As sub-$1 altcoins have surged, many new investors naively believe their chosen coin could one day surpass Bitcoin. However, they overlook a fundamental principle: digital scarcity. Assets with abundant supply are cheap for a reason, while those with limited supply command premium valuations. A newly launched website, Bitcoin Price Equivalence (BPE), aims to correct this misconception by normalizing price across all cryptocurrencies based on a standardized supply of 21 million coins.
How BPE Works: Removing Unit Bias
The BPE methodology is elegantly straightforward: take the total market capitalization of any cryptocurrency and divide it by 21 million (Bitcoin’s fixed maximum supply). The result is the theoretical price of one coin if it had the same scarcity as Bitcoin. Columnist Eric Wall explains: “The unit price of a coin is a totally senseless basis for making investment choices on. Any cryptocurrency—even Bitcoin—could have been a sub-cent item if Satoshi chose the final cap to be 21 quadrillion instead of 21 million.” BPE strips away the illusion of “cheapness” and forces investors to confront the real value implied by market cap and supply.
Stunning Examples: XRP, XLM, and DCN
Applying BPE reveals shocking figures. If Ripple (XRP) had a circulating supply of exactly 21 million, each XRP would be worth approximately $15,000 (currently trading around $2.50). Similarly, Stellar (XLM) would command around $4,000 per coin (current price ~$0.66). The question every buyer should ask: “Would I be willing to pay $15,000 for a single XRP?” Almost certainly not. An even more extreme case is Dentacoin (DCN), a dental industry token with a staggering 8 trillion total supply. Its market cap of ~$1.8 billion translates to a BPE of just $633. In a hypothetical world where DCN reaches its BPE, a standard checkup would cost mere fractions of a DCN—but no rational investor would pay $633 for a token that now costs less than a cent.
BPE as a Two-Way Mirror: Exposing Hype, Revealing Potential
While BPE clearly identifies overvalued coins (like Ripple, Stellar, and Dentacoin), it can also highlight projects with genuine upside. Ethereum (ETH), for instance, has a BPE of roughly $6,700. Despite well-known challenges around scaling and centralization, Ethereum is actively used for decentralized applications and smart contracts. A future ETH price of several thousand dollars—while ambitious—is far more plausible than a $15,000 XRP or a $633 DCN. The BPE tool forces investors to recalibrate their mental models: instead of chasing “cheap” coins with massive supplies, they should evaluate whether the project’s utility and adoption warrant a market cap that would imply a triple-digit or quadruple-digit BPE price.
Practical Implications for Crypto Investors
Bitcoin Price Equivalence is not a perfect valuation metric—it ignores factors like velocity, token velocity, governance, team, and network effects. However, it serves as an indispensable reality check in a market flooded with hype. The next time you see a “penny crypto” surging, ask yourself: “If this coin had Bitcoin’s supply, would I still be willing to buy it at its BPE price?” If the answer is no, you might be buying into a bubble sustained by unit bias. In contrast, assets whose BPE seems reasonable relative to their utility and adoption may represent genuine long-term opportunities. As always, due diligence and fundamental analysis should complement any quantitative tool.
Do you find the Bitcoin Price Equivalence useful for evaluating cryptocurrencies? Share your thoughts in the comments below.