A year after Bitcoin's peak, it is down a third in rupees

Key takeaways

• Bitcoin's record, per CoinGecko, was $126,080 on 6 October 2025. In rupees it peaked at Rs35.56 million the same day.
• On the evening of 6 October 2026 it was about $85,600, or Rs23.68 million: 32.1% down in dollars, 33.4% in rupees.
• The rupee is stronger against the dollar than a year ago, which makes the fall slightly bigger in rupees.
• Bought through USDT on P2P, a bitcoin cost about Rs24.3 million, around 2.7% more than the reference price.

One year on

Bitcoin set its all-time high a year ago this week, on 6 October 2025. CoinGecko records the peak at $126,080, reached on 6 October 2025. Measured in rupees, its record was Rs35,564,865, set earlier the same day.

On the evening of 6 October 2026, CoinGecko put bitcoin at $85,604, or Rs23.68 million. That is 32.1% below the dollar peak and 33.4% below the rupee peak. A bitcoin bought in rupees at the top is worth about Rs11.9 million less today.

The past month has been kinder. At midnight UTC on 6 September, CoinGecko had bitcoin at $79,822. It has risen about 7% since.

Why the rupee loss is bigger

The gap between 32.1% and 33.4% is the exchange rate. In CoinGecko's own figures, a dollar bought about Rs282 at the rupee peak and about Rs277 now. The rupee gained around 2% against the dollar over the year, so a dollar asset that fell is worth even fewer rupees.

For readers paid in Gulf currencies, the picture matches the dollar one. The UAE dirham and the Saudi riyal are pegged to the dollar, and CoinGecko shows bitcoin 32.1% below its peak in dirhams and 32.2% in riyals. For a worker in the UK, it is 31.0% down in pounds.

What Pakistanis actually pay

CoinGecko's rupee price converts the dollar price at a reference exchange rate. Most Pakistanis cannot buy at that rate. They buy USDT, a dollar stablecoin, from other users on peer-to-peer markets, and then buy bitcoin with it.

USDT on P2P costs more than the official dollar. In our daily series, the Binance P2P mid-price on 6 October was Rs284.09, against an official reference of Rs277.10: a premium of 2.52%. It has been above the official rate every day since our series began on 6 August.

At that rate, a bitcoin priced at $85,604 costs about Rs24.32 million through the USDT route, around Rs640,000 more than the reference price. We are not going to say why the premium exists. Over the past 30 days it has ranged from 2.06% to 3.76%, and our timing study looked at when in the day and week it is cheapest.

Our P2P series only starts in August 2026, so we cannot say what a Pakistani buyer paid at last year's peak.

What this means for Pakistani users

• Price in rupees, not dollars. If you track your holdings in dollars, you miss the exchange-rate effect. Over this year, it added more than a percentage point to the loss.
• Your cost includes the P2P premium. A quoted rupee price is not what you pay. Add the USDT premium, which has run at about 2.5% to 3% recently, and the spread when you sell.
• Anniversaries do not predict anything. A year since a peak says nothing about the next move. We do not forecast prices.
• No platform is licensed in Pakistan yet. Whatever you buy through, no Pakistani regulator supervises it today. Our licence tracker follows who has applied.

CryptoPakistan has no affiliate or referral relationship with Binance or Bybit.

What we're watching

• The USDT premium through October, on our rate page.
• The State Bank's September remittance figures, due by 9 October, set against the premium.
• Whether the rupee keeps firming, which would widen any rupee loss on a dollar asset, or narrow a gain.

Sources

• CoinGecko, Bitcoin price, all-time high and history, data retrieved 6 October 2026, 21:00 UTC (API: market data and daily history for 6 September 2026).
• CryptoPakistan, USDT/PKR P2P premium series: Binance P2P, trimmed median of 20 ads per side, daily from 6 August 2026; live Binance and Bybit aggregate.
• Official USD/PKR reference: open.er-api.com mid-market rate, as recorded in our series on 6 October 2026.