The history of Bitcoin begins in 2008, when a certain developer (or group of developers) under the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto published a document "Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System" (Bitcoin: a peer-to-peer digital cash system). This happened right at the height of the financial crisis, which may have been the first driving factor for the development of the project. In the paper, Nakamoto outlined the concept of a decentralized digital currency without a single administrator, but with a public ledger of transactions that each participant stores on his own computer.
The editors of Profinvestment.com talked about the path Bitcoin has taken since its creation until 2022. Read more about the essence of this cryptocurrency in our other article.
Before Bitcoin
Before BTC, there were several digital cash technologies, starting with electronic money protocols:
- Hal Finney
developed a reusable proof of work (RPOW) using hashcash as an algorithm. - Nick Szabo
has also explored some additional aspects, including solving the Byzantine general problem (BFT) for storing cryptocurrencies and creating mining solutions.
Bitcoin price history chart from 2009 to 2022.
The price chart shows the historical value of the BTC cryptocurrency, the logarithm of the Bitcoin market capitalization, and the most significant historical dates.
Reasons for the rapid success of cryptocurrency
Interest in cryptocurrency is fueled by three main aspects:
- complete anonymity;
- independence and decentralization;
- transparency of all operations.
Initially, Bitcoins were obtained only through mining, but now few people can afford it. Operations with BTC have moved more into the area of trading, and mining is left to corporations.
Bitcoin in 2008
BTC History 2008-2010
Bitcoin price history in 2008, 2009, 2010
- On August 18, 2008,
the bitcoin.org domain was registered. - Later that year, on October 31
, a link to an article written by Satoshi Nakamoto entitled "Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System" was posted on a cryptography mailing list. - On November 9
, the Bitcoin project was registered on the open source resource - SourceForge.net.
READ:
Bitcoin Rate Chart for the Entire History from 2008 to 2021
Bitcoin price after its appearance
On May 22, 2010, the first purchase was made using bitcoins. An ordinary pizza was purchased for 10 thousand crypto coins. Back then, 10,000 BTC was equal to $25, which means that when Bitcoin came into being, it was worth less than one cent ($0.0025).
Three years later, in February 2013, the price of Bitcoin crossed the $31 line for the first time. After another 4 years, 1 BTC = $4500, that is, the price of Bitcoin has increased 145 times. Let's dream. Imagine being inspired by the idea of cryptocurrency and blockchain technology and realizing that Bitcoin is the future. In the same 2013, you sell an apartment worth 5 million rubles, and with all the proceeds you buy 5,040 BTC at the old rate of 32 rubles/$. Your fortune today would be valued at 1,411,290,323 rubles. That is, you could already buy not 1, but 280 apartments.
Bitcoin in 2009
In January 2009, the Bitcoin network was born with the release of the first open source client (BTC wallet).
Satoshi Nakamoto mined the world's first block (known as the genesis block), and received a reward of 50 coins. Embedded within the base of this first block was the following text:
"The Times 03 Jan 2009, Chancellor on Brink of Second Bailout for Banks."
Which translates to:
“The time is January 3, 2009. The Chancellor is on the brink (the edge of the abyss) for a second bailout of the banks."
What does this mean?
This is the headline of a front page article from The Times, January 3, 2009. Thus, “Satoshi Nakamoto” simply wanted to show that the first Bitcoin block was recorded in the blockchain no earlier than this date
.
Bitcoin Genesis Block
One of the first supporters of cryptocurrency and the recipient of the first transaction was programmer Hal Finney.
Finney downloaded the Bitcoin software on the day it was released and received 10 coins from "Satoshi" in the world's first BTC transaction.
Hal Finney and the alleged Satoshi
Other early proponents included Wei Dai, creator of the Bitcoin predecessor "b-money", and Nick Szabo, creator of the Bitcoin predecessor "bit gold".
Nick Szabo
Before disappearing completely from view, Nakamoto in a sense handed over the reins to developer Gavin Andresen, who then became the lead BTC developer at the Bitcoin Foundation, the "anarchist" community's closest thing to an official public figure.
How much was Bitcoin worth in 2009?
The value of early BTC transactions was discussed on the Bitcoin forum, with one known transaction of 10,000 coins being used to purchase two pizzas delivered by Papa John's.
- On January 3,
the genesis block appears - the first block in the blockchain. 50 BTC is generated at 18:15:05 (GMT). - January 9.
The first version of the Bitcoin wallet v0.1 has been released. - January 12
The first Bitcoin transaction occurred (block #170). Sender: Satoshi Nakamoto. Recipient Hal Finney. - October 5
The first Bitcoin to dollar rate was published: 1 dollar = 1,309.03 BTC. Public sales have begun on the New Liberty Standard Stock Exchange. - October 9
Channel #bitcoin-de is registered in IRC. - December 16th
Bitcoin wallet update v0.2 is released.
Bitcoin History: BTC Sign
Bitcoin Symbol
From the very beginning, the founder of Bitcoin was careful in choosing the symbol for the coin. At the same time, for Satoshi Nakamoto the project was a kind of social experiment, and not a way to monetize the idea.
Satoshi logo
Satoshi proposed the first Bitcoin sign. However, later the image went through several stages of development.
Initially, Satoshi's Bitcoin symbol consisted of two letters "BC" on a gold field of the coin. A little later, he replaced it with a single capital letter “B” with two vertical lines, like a dollar. Apparently, the author sought to make the Bitcoin sign simple, recognizable and at the same time similar to fiat money. This way, the required association with a monetary unit, albeit a virtual one, arose faster.
But in 2010, talk began about replacing it so that the sign could be complemented by a Unicode standard such as the dollar ($), euro (€) or yen (¥).
The first Bitcoin client with the Satoshi logo in the top left corner
Bitcoin in 2010
Prices 2009-2017
- February 6
The first official cryptocurrency exchange “Bitcoin Market” was launched. - 22nd of May.
The first online purchase using BTC took place. Laszlo Haniec buys a pizza for 10,000 coins ($25 - Bitcoin was worth 0.0025 cents per coin). - July 11
Bitcoin v0.3 is released. The coin is mentioned on the news site Slashdot.org. The number of cryptocurrency users is increasing significantly. - July 12
Bitcoin exchange rate increases 10 times in ten days, from $0.008 per BTC to $0.08. - July
17 The MtGox exchange was launched. - August 15
. An error in the Bitcoin code results in a dirty transaction at block number 74638. Users can easily find the error, correct the code, and clean up the incorrect block. - September 14.
User "jgarzik" offers user "puddingpop" 10,000 coins ($600-$650) to run a generic miner (CUDA, Nvidia) on Windows. - September 18.
User "puddingpop" announces the opening of a Windows-based CUDA miner under the MITd license. - September 29.
User "kermit" discovers a microtransaction intrusion after running v0.3.13. - October 1
The first public AMD miner (Open CL) was created. - On October 7,
the BTC price begins to rise, after several months when it was stuck at $0.06 per BTC. - October 16
The first Bitcoin deposit was registered: a transaction between users “nanotube” and “Diabo-3”, with the user “theymos as”. - October 17
The “#bitcoin-otc trade” channel appears on the IRC channel. - October 28
First short trade: 100 coins between users “nanotube” and “kiba” on the “bitcoin-otc” channel. - November 6
Bitcoin's share capital reaches $1 million. Its rate on MtGox reaches $0.5 per BTC. - December 7th.
User "doublec" creates a Bitcoin application for the Nokia N900 phone. User "ribuck" sends 0.42 BTC in the first P2P transaction using a mobile device. - 9th December.
The first open call agreement was signed between users “nanotube” and “sgornick” on “#bitcoin-otc”. - December 16
The first block is generated by mining by user “sluch”. It was from this moment that mining began.
Bitcoin hard fork and the birth of Bitcoin Cash on August 1, 2017
As Bitcoin grew, its community began to divide. There were many users and developers who wanted to increase the block size from 1 MB to 8 MB, while others wanted to apply a scaling solution called SegWit to Bitcoin. Eventually, those who wanted to increase the block size achieved a hard fork and created Bitcoin Cash.
Since its inception, Bitcoin Cash has grown significantly and now ranks 4th in the market capitalization rankings. Other Bitcoin forks have proven less effective.
Bitcoin in 2011
Bitcoin history - transactions in 2011, 2012, 2013
Based on the open source code of BTC, other cryptocurrencies began to appear.
The Electronic Frontier Foundation, a nonprofit group, began accepting Bitcoin in January 2011 and then stopped accepting it in June 2011, citing concerns about the lack of legal precedent for new currency systems. The EFF's decision was reversed on May 17, 2013, when they resumed accepting cryptocurrency.
- January 8
The mining pool reaches a capacity of 10 Gigahash per second. - January 27
Largest monetary transaction in Bitcoin history. It occurred on 3 accounts in Zimbabwe on "#bitcoin-otc". The rate was 4 BTC for 100 trillion ZWL (Zimbabwean dollars). - January 28
Block #105000 is generated - at that time, 5.24 million coins were issued, which is 25% of the total 21 million. - On February 9
, Bitcoin reached parity with the US dollar (the rate was one BTC to the dollar). - February 10.
After Bitcoin was mentioned in Slashdot and Hacker News, Bitcoin.org is struggling with an influx of new users, many of whom come from Twitter. - The 14th of February
. An Austrian user is offering an old Porsche for sale on an exchange for 3,000 BTC. - March 1
User “MagicalTux” buys the Mtgox.com exchange from its founder, Jed McCaleb. - March, 6.
Sudden change in the Bitcoin network: hashing power increases sharply to 900 Gigahash per second and decreases to 500 Gigahash per second for a short period of time. It is rumored that this was caused by a supercomputer or network bot, dubbed a "mystery miner", connecting to the network. - On March 18,
the Bitcoin exchange rate compared to the dollar reached 70 cents per dollar. Before this, there was an increase in the exchange rate (perhaps this was done artificially), then there was a strong decrease. - On March 22,
WeUseCoins published a video “What is Bitcoin? and it goes viral with over 6 million views. - March 27
The first exchanges open to exchange BTC for GBP (pound sterling). - March 31.
The first exchange for exchanging BTC to BRL (Brazilian real) has been opened. - April 5
BitMarket.eu opens, the first exchange for exchanging BTC for PLN (Polish zloty) - April 12
First signing of an options contract on the bitcoin-otc exchange. - April 16
TIME Magazine publishes an article about cryptocurrency. - On April 23,
the BTC/USD rate reaches and surpasses the USD/EUR price and the USD/GBP rate on the MtGox exchange. The total capitalization is $10 million. - On April 27,
VirWoX opens the first BTC/SLL exchange (Leone). - June
WikiLeaks and other organizations began accepting Bitcoin for donations. - On June 2,
the dollar to BTC exchange rate is $10 per coin. Within 6 days, the price of Bitcoin on MtGox is $31.91. - On June 12,
BTC fell to $10 against the dollar. - June 13
The first theft in BTC history occurred. User "allinvain" reports 25 thousand coins ($375 thousand). - On June
19 , security vulnerabilities were discovered in the MtGox database. The names, password hashes and emails of 60 thousand users were stolen. An unknown hacker gains access to the MtGox administrator account and sends hundreds of thousands of fake bitcoins, reducing the value of the cryptocurrency from $17.5 per coin to 1 cent per coin. Sales resume in a week. On the same day, thousands of coins were stolen from MyBitcoin accounts. This was one of the largest Bitcoin crashes (hacks) in history. - July 22
The first mobile application for iPad was released - BitCoins Mobile. - August 20
First Bitcoin Conference at World Expo in New York. - August 23rd
The first decentralized P2Pool finds its first block. - September
Vitalik Buterin becomes co-founder of Bitcoin magazine. - November 25
The first cryptocurrency conference in Europe takes place in Prague (Czech Republic). - 12 December
. Highest amount of block fees paid to date: 171 BTC for block #157235. - On December 23,
Douglas Feigelson of BitBills filed a patent application for "Creation and Use of Digital Currency" with the US Patent and Trademark Office, which was challenged on prior art grounds in June 2013.
Differences from WebMoney, QIWI, Yandex.Money
Bitcoin and Webmoney, Qiwi, Yandex.money are payment systems, however:
- Bitcoins use their own electronic currency for transactions - bitcoins;
- Webmoney, Qiwi, Yandex.money use ordinary money (dollars, rubles, etc.), converted into an electronic equivalent that has no real value and does not belong to the owner from a legal point of view.
| Bitcoin | Webmoney, Qiwi, Yandex money | |
| Transaction fees | No charge | Charged |
| Confidentiality | Information about the account owner is anonymous, there is no control over the identity of the owner | All personal data is indicated, information can be provided to other participants, increased control by systems over the client’s person |
| Wallet replenishment method | 1. Buying coins on the exchange 2. Mining | Replenishment through bank cards, dealers, mail, etc. |
| Material embodiment | Not displayed | Output into regular banknotes |
Bitcoin in 2012
In January 2012, Bitcoin was featured as a major plot point in the fictional trial of the CBS legal drama The Good Wife in the third season episode "Bitcoin for Dummies."
Exchange rate Mt.Gox (now defunct) in 2012
CNBC's "Mad Money" host Jim Cramer played himself in a courtroom where he testifies that he doesn't believe Bitcoin is a real currency, saying:
“There is no central bank to regulate it; it’s digital and completely peer-to-peer.”
- March 1
About 50,000 BTC stolen after Linode web hosting security update; This is the biggest Bitcoin theft of 2012. - June 3.
The largest block in the chain was created, number 181919. It included 1322 transactions. - September 15-16
Bitcoin conference in London. - September 27
The Bitcoin Foundation was established to “accelerate the global growth of Bitcoin by standardizing, securing, and promoting the open source protocol.” The founders were Gavin Andresen, John Matonis, Patrick Merck, Charlie Shrem and Peter Wessenes. - October
BitPay reported that more than 1,000 merchants accept Bitcoin as part of its payment processing service. - In November,
WordPress Website Builder began accepting BTC. - On November 28,
Block #210,000 becomes the first block to receive a 25 BTC reward (all previous existing block rewards were 50 BTC). The so-called Bitcoin halving occurred. - December 6
The French exchange Bitcoin-Central becomes the first exchange to operate under European rules.
Yes, this is a world government
Bitcoin was created by the world government as a new world order currency designed to destroy government cash. The Rothschilds and the Bilderberg Club had a hand. Who else?!
Moreover, it only takes a little brainstorming to connect a single world currency with the biblical number of the beast.
Firstly, Bitcoin will be the only means of payment for humanity, and secondly, all transactions are forever stored in an open ledger, and even the slightest transfer can be tracked. It's not bad, and it's not good. This is simply what the world elites intended, believe followers of this theory.
Bitcoin in 2013
Course 2013
- On January 22,
BitPay exceeded the 10,000 transaction mark. - February
A Coinbase-based payment gateway reported selling $1 million worth of Bitcoin in one month at over $22 per coin. The Internet Archive has announced that it is willing to accept cryptocurrency donations and intends to allow employees to receive a portion of their salaries in BTC. - February 19
The 8th version of the Bitcoin wallet appears. - On February 28,
the rate exceeded $31.91 for the first time in 601 days. - March
In March, the Bitcoin blockchain temporarily split into two independent chains with different rules for accepting transactions. For six hours, two networks operated simultaneously, each with its own version of transaction history. Major developers called for a temporary halt to transactions, triggering a sharp sell-off. Mt. Exchange GOx briefly closed deposits and the rate briefly fell 23% to $37. The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) has set regulatory guidelines for "decentralized virtual currencies" like Bitcoin, classifying American "Bitcoin miners" as " who sell their generated coins as money service entities (or MSBs), which may be subject to registration and other legal obligations. as a result, the rate dropped from $266 to $76, and six hours later returned to 160. Bitcoin gained more acceptance when services such as OkCupid and Foodler began accepting it as payment. - March 28
BTC capitalization exceeds $1 billion. - April 1
The rate reaches $100 per 1 BTC. - May
WebMoney announces the creation of a new type of cash register for bitcoin transactions. - On May 15,
US authorities seized accounts associated with Mt. Gox after discovering that the exchange was not registered as a money sender with FinCEN in the US. - On May 17,
BitInstant processed approximately 30 percent of the money interacting with BTC, with 30,000 transactions completed in April alone. - On June 23,
the US Drug Enforcement Administration listed 11.02 BTC as a seized asset in a US Department of Justice seizure notice pursuant to 21 USC § 881. This is the first time a government agency has reported a cryptocurrency seizure. - July
A landmark project linking Bitcoin to M-Pesa, the popular mobile payment system, began in Kenya in an experiment aimed at spurring payment innovation in Africa. That same month, the Department of Foreign Exchange Administration and Policy in Thailand stated that BTC lacked any legal basis and would therefore be illegal, effectively banning it from trading on the exchange. According to Vitalik Buterin, "the fate of Bitcoin in Thailand may increase confidence in the electronic currency in some circles," but he was concerned that it does not bode well for cryptocurrencies in China. - On August 6
, Federal Judge Amos Mazzant of the Eastern District of Texas' Fifth Circuit ruled that Bitcoin is a "currency or form of money" (specifically, a security as defined by federal securities laws). And BTC is subject to the jurisdiction of the court. The German Ministry of Finance then included Bitcoin in the term "unit of account" - a financial instrument, although not in the form of electronic money or functional currency, a classification that nevertheless has legal and tax implications. - In October,
the FBI seized approximately 26,000 BTC from the Silk Road website during the arrest of Ross's alleged owner, William Ulbricht. - On October 29,
Robocoin and Bitcoiniacs launched the world's first Bitcoin ATM in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, allowing customers to sell or buy currency at a downtown cafe. Chinese internet giant Baidu has allowed bitcoin payments on websites. - November
For the first time in history, Bitcoin is worth over $1,000 after BTC was backed by US game maker Zynga. - November
The University of Nicosia announced it would accept Bitcoin as tuition fees, with the university's chief financial officer calling it "the gold of tomorrow." In November 2013, the Chinese exchange BTC China overtook the Japanese Mt. Gox and European Bitstamp become the largest crypto trading exchange by trading volume. - December
Overstock.com announced plans to accept Bitcoin in the second half of 2014. - On December 5,
the People's Bank of China banned Chinese financial institutions from using cryptocurrencies. Following the announcement, the value of Bitcoin fell and Baidu no longer accepted BTC for certain services. Purchasing real goods with any virtual currency has been banned in China since at least 2009. - On December 9,
$100 was stolen from Bitcoin wallets. - December
China banned the use of cryptocurrency in the country. One of the world's largest exchanges in China was closed. China and Norway did not recognize cryptocurrencies.
These are Chinese socialists
Bitcoin was created by the Chinese to put an end to US hegemony and make the whole world happy with socialist ideals. Proof? Well, it's obvious! The plan cannot be realized if we do not get rid of the “dollar dependence”. Well, from that same empty piece of paper that Americans simply take and print, receiving very specific valuable goods for it.
In addition, the Chinese need to protect themselves in case they are disconnected from the international interbank SWIFT system.
Adherents of the theory note that the rise of Bitcoin in 2022 surprisingly went in parallel with the growth of China’s foreign trade and, at the same time, the growth of the US foreign trade deficit. Coincidence?..
Bitcoin in 2014
Bitcoin capitalization history in 2014, 2015, 2016
In 2014, the documentary The Rise and Rise of Bitcoin was released, featuring interviews with various users of the first digital currency, such as a programmer and a drug dealer.
- January
Elliptic Vault, the first secure cryptocurrency vault, opens in London. Bitcoin is starting to displace the euro in Ireland. More and more companies are agreeing to accept bitcoins as payment for services. Zynga has announced that it is testing BTC to purchase in-game assets in seven of its games. The network speed exceeded 10 petahash/sec. TigerDirect and Overstock.com have started accepting Bitcoin. - On January 24
, BTC China resumes sales. - On January 28,
the Vice President of the Bitcoin Foundation was arrested on charges of money laundering. As a result of the ensuing panic, the rate dropped by $40. - February
One of the largest exchanges, Mt.Gox, suspended the withdrawal of funds for technical reasons. By the end of the month, Mt. Gox filed for bankruptcy protection in Japan amid reports that 744,000 bitcoins were stolen. Months before filing, the popularity of Mt. Gox shrunk as users experienced difficulty withdrawing funds. - February 1
The American newspaper The Chicago Sun-Times accepts payment in BTC for subscriptions. - February 10-12
Problems with transactions on several large exchanges. Bitcoin price fell to $600 (historic decline of 30%). - June
Network power exceeded 100 petahash/sec. - June 18
It was announced that Bitcoin payment service provider BitPay will become the new sponsor of the St. Petersburg Bowl in a two-year deal renamed Bitcoin St. Petersburg Bowl. Bitcoin had to be accepted for the sale of tickets and concessions in the game as part of the sponsorship, and the sponsorship itself was also paid for using Bitcoin. - July
Newegg and Dell began accepting cryptocurrency. - September
TeraExchange, LLC received CFTC approval to begin listing an over-the-counter swap product based on the price of Bitcoin. The CFTC's approval of a swap product marks the first time a US regulatory agency has approved a Bitcoin financial product. - November 5
The American exchange Buttercoin was launched. - December
Microsoft began accepting Bitcoin for the purchase of Xbox games and Windows software.
2014 saw the release of several light-hearted songs dedicated to Bitcoin, such as Oda to Satoshi and others.
Do I need to find out who owns Bitcoin?
Many virtual coins have become popular even with known information about its creator. A striking example is Charlie Lee, who is still involved in the improvement and promotion of virtual coins. It is believed that the anonymity of the developer is a plus, since a person’s actions (words) can lead to an increase in the volatility of the virtual coin.
Satoshi Nakamoto left behind a great legacy and the opportunity for everyone to create Bitcoin for free. The identity of the Bitcoin developer still remains a mystery. The search for who created Bitcoin continues, but the excitement subsides, leaving guesses and suspicions.
Bitcoin in 2015
Number of BTC transactions per month from 2009 to 2017
- January
Coinbase raised $75 million in Series C funding round, breaking the previous record for a Bitcoin company. Less than a year after the collapse of Mt.Gox, UK-based Bitstamp announced that their exchange would be taken offline while they investigated a hack that resulted in the theft of approximately 19,000 BTC (equivalent to approximately $5 million at the time) from their hot wallet . The exchange was down for several days amid rumors that customers had lost their funds. Bitstamp resumed trading on January 9 after strengthening security measures and reassuring customers that their account balances would not be affected. - February
The price of the first digital currency reached $262. - March
Startup Bitcoin 21 Inc. announced it has raised $116 million in venture funding, the largest amount for any digital currency-related company. - Mai
Ulbricht was found guilty of seven charges of money laundering, computer hacking and drug trafficking in February due to his role as an operator of the Silk Road market. - June.
The New York State Department of Financial Services, Superintendent Benjamin Lowkey, has issued a set of separate rules designed to regulate bitcoin and digital currency businesses serving customers located in New York State. These rules are the first in the history of businesses working with digital currencies. - July
Former federal agents Carl Force IV (DEA) and Sean Bridges (Secret Service) pleaded guilty to bitcoin theft during their active investigation into the Silk Road market. - August
It was estimated that 160,000 merchants accept payments in Bitcoin. Barclays has announced it will become the first UK bank to accept Bitcoin, with the aim of helping users make charitable donations using the cryptocurrency outside of their systems. They collaborated in April 2016 with mobile payments startup Circle Internet Financial. - September
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) announced it had filed for a Bitcoin exchange to facilitate trading of options contracts on its platform. - In October,
the ability to add a symbol for Bitcoin to Unicode was introduced to the Unicode Consortium. Also during this time, Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss released their own American Bitcoin called "Gemini". Upon launch, the exchange was licensed to operate in 26 states and had the ability to “serve both individual and institutional clients” through its LLTC corporate structure. The Twins were also able to offer FDIC insurance on customer deposits through a partnership with a bank in New York. The European Court of Justice has ruled that exchanges of Bitcoin and “virtual currencies” are not subject to value added tax (VAT) in the European Union. - November
Historical Date for Bitcoin - The Unicode Committee adopted the Bitcoin currency symbol (in uppercase B with two vertical bars running through it, but visible only at the top and bottom) to be in a future version of the Unicode standard. The glyph will be assigned the "U+20BF BITCOIN SIGN" slot and will appear in standard system fonts. - December
Security researcher and writer Gwern Branwen published an article in WIRED magazine claiming that an Australian named Dr. Craig S. Wright was either Satoshi Nakamoto or a "brilliant deceiver." Gwern posted several deleted messages and Wright's blog leaked emails and transcripts that seemed to imply that Wright was the creator of Bitcoin. In one leaked transcript, Wright himself states: “I have done everything I can to hide the fact that I have been working in Bitcoin since 2009.” Another document states that Wright had access to a Vidoescom trust of 1.1 million bitcoins.
How exchanges for Bitcoin trading developed
In 2010, interest in Bitcoin grew significantly, and new methods for obtaining it began to appear. Bitcoin Core wallet developer Gavin Andresen created a Bitcoin faucet, a site that gives anyone with a BTC address five free Bitcoins. At the same time, the first crypto exchanges appeared.
A market for trading bitcoins was announced on Bitcointalk, offering a floating exchange rate. Buyers could purchase coins by sending dollars to a counterparty via PayPal, while the exchange would hold the bitcoins in escrow until the seller received payment.
The most notable exchange at that time was the infamous Mt.Gox . The domain was acquired in 2007 by Jed McCaleb, the future co-founder of Ripple and Stellar. The name Mt.Gox stood for "Magic: The Gathering Online Exchange". Magic: The Gathering is a trading card game, and the site was originally used to trade cards from the game. In 2010, McCaleb decided to transform the site into a Bitcoin exchange.
In addition to Mt.Gox, there were also VirWoX and Tradehill platforms, which were less well known.
In 2011, McCaleb sold Mt.Gox to developer Mark Karpeles. Almost immediately, a hacker attack compromised an exchange account where a significant amount of bitcoins were stored, and the hacker subsequently sold it. Because of this, the BTC rate on the exchange fell from $17 to zero within a few minutes. The hacker also stole user information and forced the site to temporarily go offline.
Mt.Gox is one of the first Bitcoin exchanges
Just two years later, however, the newly opened Mt.Gox was processing 70% of all Bitcoin transactions in the world. To deposit funds, users mainly used the payment systems Liberty Reserve (now closed) and Dwolla. In 2014, long delays arose when trying to withdraw funds, and the exchange began to be trusted less and less. Information has been revealed about a major hack of the platform over the years, resulting in the theft of 744,408 BTC. Another 100,000 BTC disappeared to no one knows where. As a result, only 200,000 BTC were returned to users, after which the exchange closed, declaring bankruptcy.
In recent years, exchanges have begun to work closely with regulators, making efforts to register a company and comply with KYC/AML/CFT rules. Thanks to the growing reliability of exchanges and wallets, Bitcoin is gradually being washed away from its reputation as a currency for criminal activity.
Modern reliable platforms that you can use without fear: Binance, Currency.com, EXMO, OKEx, Huobi, CEX.io, Bybit, Bitfinex, Bitmex.
Bitcoin in 2016
Course in 2016
- January
Network speed exceeds 1 exahash/sec. - February
Influential members of the BTC community met in Hong Kong to discuss the development plan and scaling schedule. The closed meeting was attended by more than 30 people, service providers and Bitcoin core developers, and was intended to resolve issues related to the block size discussion. - March
The Japanese Cabinet recognizes virtual currencies such as Bitcoin as a means of payment on an equal basis with real (fiat) money. South Africa's largest cryptocurrency market, Bidorbuy, is opening. - April
Steam begins accepting Bitcoin as payment for video games and other online media. - May
Wright publicly announced that he was Satoshi Nakamoto on his blog. - July
Researchers published a paper showing that by November 2013, Bitcoin trading was no longer driven by "sinful" activities, but by legitimate enterprises. Uber switched to Bitcoin in Argentina after the government banned credit card companies from dealing with Uber. - August
Hackers attack Bitfinex, a major exchange, and steal almost 120,000 coins (about $60 million). - September
The number of Bitcoin ATMs has doubled in the past 18 months to 771 ATMs worldwide. - November
Swiss rail operator SBB (CFF) upgraded all of its automatic ticket machines to allow the purchase of Bitcoin, using the scanner on the ticket machine to scan the Bitcoin address into the phone app.
The history and future of Bitcoin attracts more and more academic interest every year; The number of published Google Scholar articles mentioning Bitcoin increased from 83 in 2009 to 424 in 2012 to 3,580 in 2016.
Who is the creator
According to the official version, the one who created Bitcoin coins is named Satoshi Nakamoto. There is no doubt that the data is not real, but a pseudonym of one person or a community of people. The true name and surname of the creator of Bitcoins are kept strictly confidential. In general, this is surprising for the Internet: as a rule, people are quickly de-anonymized on the Internet, but Satoshi Nakamoto turned out to be a tough nut to crack for Internet detectives.
READ EOS cryptocurrency - exchange rate chart against the ruble and dollar, mining
Everything that is known about this person is connected only with BTC: he developed the concept of cryptocurrency and made changes until 2010. Must be rich because, conservatively, he has mined a lot of Bitcoins for himself. Nakamoto's wallet number is known:
1A1zP1eP5QGefi2DMPTfTL5SLmv7DivfNa
There are always many people who want to thank the founder of cryptocurrency: users transfer funds to the wallet. The principles of anonymity do not allow us to find out anything about the owner from the address. But it is possible to view the current wallet balance:
Transactions are incoming only, that is, Satoshi himself never transferred anything from this address.
Bitcoin in 2022
Historical price chart for 2022, 2018
The number of businesses accepting Bitcoin continues to grow. In January 2022, NHK reported that the number of online stores accepting BTC in Japan has increased 4.6 times over the past year. BitPay CEO Stephen Para said the company's transaction volume grew 3x from January 2016 to February 2022 and explained that the use of Bitcoin in B2B supply chain payments is growing.
From the beginning of history to 2022, BTC is gaining more legitimacy among legislators and traditional financial companies. For example, Japan passed a law to accept Bitcoin as a legal payment method, and Russia announced that it would legalize the use of cryptocurrencies. And Norway's largest online bank, Skandiabanken, is integrating Bitcoin accounts. (Read: Cryptocurrency: which countries have already accepted it?)
Exchange trading volumes continue to grow. Over the 6-month period ending March 2022, Mexico's Bitso exchange saw trading volume increase by 1,500%. Between January and May 2022, Poloniex attracted 600% more active traders and regularly processed 640% more transactions.
- January
. After rallying for much of the second half of 2016, BTC broke the $1,000 mark for the first time in 3 years. Media coverage leads to an influx of new users, who will supposedly raise the price even higher. - March
The number of Bitcoin-related projects on GitHub exceeds 10,000. - April
Japan recognizes Bitcoin as a legal payment method. The country's legislature, after months of debate, passed a law that would encourage bitcoin exchanges to comply with "anti-money laundering/your customer information" rules and classify bitcoin as a kind of prepaid payment instrument. - June
The Bitcoin symbol was encoded in Unicode version 10.0 at position U+20BF(₿) in the currency symbols block. - June 12
Bitcoin exchange rate exceeds $3,000 against BTC. - On August 1
, Bitcoin split into two derivative digital currencies: classic Bitcoin (BTC) and Bitcoin Cash (BCH). The split was called a "Bitcoin Cash" hard fork. - September 1
Bitcoin exchange rate exceeds $5,000. - October
China bans cryptocurrencies and ICOs. - November 29
Bitcoin price exceeds $10,000. - December
Cboe Global Markets begins offering Bitcoin futures, allowing investors to speculate on Bitcoin prices. - December 6.
Gaming platform Steam has announced that it will no longer accept Bitcoin as payment for its products, citing slow transaction speeds and price volatility. - December 11th.
Futures for the world's most popular cryptocurrency rose 26 percent from their opening price in CBOE Global Markets Inc.'s debut session, triggering two temporary trading stops aimed at calming the market. - December 18
. The highest price for BTC is $19,665.39, but the coin does not reach $20,000. - December 28th
. The price of Bitcoin fell after South Korea announced additional measures to regulate Bitcoin trading, including the potential closure of exchanges.
Interestingly, at the beginning of 2022, the price of Bitcoin was less than $3,000, then around $5,000, and by the end of the year, Bitcoin was worth almost $20,000.
Satoshi Nakamoto is the pseudonym of the creator of Bitcoin.
The person who is considered the inventor of Bitcoin is in all likelihood rich and influential. Nakamoto made a financial revolution, but avoids publicity at all costs.
The creator of Bitcoin set the stage for the cryptocurrency industry:
- Created a number of documents with a detailed description of the operating principle of cryptographic money (late 2008).
- I wrote, although a crude, but already workable version of the program for working with BTC (early 2009).
- At the end of 2010, I made the last changes to the code and completely disappeared from the horizon.
Satoshi did not work alone, but in collaboration with computer application developers, but he never revealed his identity to anyone. In 2011, the last post was left in the official community, where the founder notifies that he is no longer related to the development of Bitcoin technology and leaves to work on other projects.
This surprised netizens given the growing popularity of Bitcoin and further fueled interest in the identity of the creator.
Main subjects of discussion:
- Nationality of Satoshi Nakamoto . The first and last names resemble Japanese ones. Whoever chose the pseudonym clearly paid attention to the meaning: the name Satoshi translates as “resourceful”, “smart”, and the surname Nakamoto is made up of two parts, one of which means “internal environment”, and the second means “foundation”. Thus, it becomes clear that the one behind the name, if not Japanese, is intimately familiar with the Japanese language.
- The existence of people who know the identity of the creator of Bitcoin . If such people exist, they guard the secret well. The rest can only build versions, none of which have yet been confirmed.
- What is Satoshi Nakamoto like in terms of character and lifestyle ? The one who invented the technology of cryptocurrencies must be an extraordinary person with a mathematical mind, prone to perfectionism.
- How many Bitcoins does Satoshi have ? Well-known crypto specialist Sergio Lerner discussed the issue in detail. Based on research results, it turned out that Nakamoto generated a large number of blocks in the Bitcoin network. Translating to the current exchange rate, it is easy to calculate that the creator of the system can be a dollar billionaire.
- What is the founder of Bitcoin doing now ? It is impossible to find out, and Satoshi did not give any hints. All that is written in his block about this: “I moved on to other things. Bitcoin remains in good hands."
So the mystery remains for now, but this arouses additional public interest in the coin.
Bitcoin in 2022
History of BTC 2018
2018 was a challenging year for Bitcoin and its users, especially those who believed the price would rise. Many sold the cryptocurrency before it was too late, and the price has been steadily declining throughout the year. The price in 2022 was 3732.04.
- On January 2,
the Peter Thiel Foundation invested millions of dollars through Bitcoin, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing sources familiar with the situation. The document states that these shares are worth hundreds of millions of dollars. However, it is unclear whether the founders sold any of their shares. - On January 8,
Coinmarketcap removed prices from South Korean exchanges from its cryptocurrency calculations without warning, causing all prices to plummet. Additionally, Korean financial authorities on January 8 began investigating cryptocurrency-related services provided by local banks. - January 13
Out of a total of 21 million, 16,800,000 BTC were mined, with only 20% remaining for mining. - January
22 South Korea passed a regulation requiring all traders to disclose their identity, thereby banning anonymous Bitcoin trading. - January
24 , online payments company Stripe announced that it would end its support for Bitcoin payments by the end of April 2018, citing decreased demand, higher fees, and longer transaction times as the reasons. - On January 30
, Facebook completely banned people from advertising BTC and other cryptocurrencies. - February
5, the price of Bitcoin fell 50 percent in 16 days, falling below $7,000. - On March 7
, the US Securities and Exchange Commission confirmed that many online digital asset trading platforms must register as exchanges with the agency. The SEC's announcement fueled concerns that increased regulation could restrict trading. - On March 14
, Google announced that it was banning online advertising that promotes cryptocurrency. - On March 26
, Twitter announced it would ban cryptocurrency advertising, joining Google and Facebook. The platform said this is aimed at protecting investors from scams. - April 13
One of India's largest cryptocurrency trading platforms lost about 438 bitcoins, worth about 190 million rupees ($3 million), allegedly to an employee. - May 2
One of the largest investment banks announced that Goldman Sachs is going to start using its own money to trade with clients on various contracts related to the price of Bitcoin. - On May 24,
the Department of Justice opened a criminal investigation into whether traders are manipulating the prices of Bitcoin and other digital currencies. The investigation is focused on illegal activities that can affect prices, such as "flooding the market" with fake orders to trick other traders into buying or selling. - On June 10,
South Korean exchange Coinrail loses more than $40 million in tokens after being hacked. - October 31
On Bitcoin's 10th anniversary, the price remains firmly above $6,000 during a period of historically low volatility. - November 14
The price dropped below $6,000. - November 24
The price went below $4,000.
So who?!
Well, be that as it may, Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are already with us. The situation is exactly the same as with our entire universe. Who knows where trees, mountains, rivers, and ourselves, actually came from?
Better tell me: which theory of the emergence of Bitcoin do you believe in? Write it in the comments.
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