A History Of Bitcoin

Posted on by Brian Colwell

Bitcoin emerged from the shadows of the 2008 financial crisis as a revolutionary digital currency that would fundamentally challenge traditional monetary systems. Created by the pseudonymous Satoshi Nakamoto, Bitcoin introduced the world to blockchain technology and the concept of decentralized digital money. What began as an experimental peer-to-peer electronic cash system has evolved into a global financial phenomenon worth over a trillion dollars, reshaping how we think about money, value transfer, and financial sovereignty. This article traces Bitcoin‘s remarkable journey from its cryptographic origins through major milestones, controversies, and technological developments that have defined its place in the modern financial landscape.

A History Of Bitcoin

Bitcoin‘s history represents one of the most significant financial innovations of the 21st century. From its genesis block in 2009 to becoming a mainstream investment asset with SEC-approved ETFs in 2024, Bitcoin has survived numerous challenges including exchange hacks, regulatory battles, and extreme price volatility. The cryptocurrency’s journey encompasses technological breakthroughs, cultural shifts, and the creation of an entirely new asset class that continues to evolve and influence global finance.

Chronology

  • 2008: Bitcoin white paper titled “Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System” published by Satoshi Nakamoto on October 31 on a cryptography mailing list. [1]
  • 2009: Bitcoin network launched on January 3 with the mining of the genesis block (Block 0) containing the message “The Times 03/Jan/2009 Chancellor on brink of second bailout for banks”; Bitcoin v0.1.0 released on January 9 as the first official version of Bitcoin software; Hal Finney tweeted “Running bitcoin” on January 11, becoming the first known tweet about Bitcoin; First Bitcoin transaction occurred on January 12 when Satoshi Nakamoto sent 10 BTC to Hal Finney; New Liberty Standard established first Bitcoin exchange rate on October 5 at $1 = 1,309.03 BTC. [2, 3, 4, 5]
  • 2010: Laszlo Hanyecz completed first commercial Bitcoin transaction on May 22, purchasing two pizzas for 10,000 BTC in what became known as “Bitcoin Pizza Day,” also discovered GPU mining which revolutionized Bitcoin mining efficiency; Mt. Gox Bitcoin exchange launched in July by Jed McCaleb, later becoming the world’s largest Bitcoin exchange; Bitcoin price reached $0.30 for the first time in December. [6, 7, 8, 43]
  • 2011: Bitcoin reached parity with US dollar for the first time in February, with 1 BTC = $1; Mt. Gox suffered first major hack in June with 25,000 BTC stolen from 478 user accounts and Bitcoin price temporarily manipulated to $0.01; Largest Bitcoin transaction by value occurred to date on November 16. [9, 10, 4]
  • 2012: First Bitcoin halving occurred on November 28, reducing block reward from 50 BTC to 25 BTC per block. [11]
  • 2013: Bitcoin blockchain temporarily split into two independent chains for six hours in March, causing sharp price volatility before normal operation restored; Hal Finney posted “Bitcoin & Me” on BitcoinTalk forum on March 19, sharing his experience as an early Bitcoin adopter and revealing his ALS diagnosis; Bitcoin market capitalization surpassed $1 billion for the first time in April; First Congressional hearing on Bitcoin held by US Senate Banking Committee on May 17 discussing benefits and risks of digital assets; FBI shut down Silk Road marketplace on October 1 and arrested Ross Ulbricht, seizing approximately 26,000 BTC initially and later 144,000 BTC; First Bitcoin ATM opened in Vancouver, Canada on October 13, allowing conversion between Canadian dollars and Bitcoin; Bitcoin price exceeded $1,000 for the first time in November during peak of Mt. Gox trading volume; On December 18, during a price crash from $1,000 to $551, BitcoinTalk user GameKyuubi posted whiskey-fueled rant titled “I AM HODLING” containing misspelling that became legendary crypto meme, stating “You only sell in a bear market if you are a good day trader or an illusioned noob. The people in-between hold. In a zero-sum game such as this, traders can only take your money if you sell.” [5, 4, 12, 13, 14, 44, 15, 47]
  • 2014: Mt. Gox suspended all trading on February 28 and filed for bankruptcy after revealing loss of 850,000 BTC (worth $473 million at the time) due to hacking; US Marshals Service auctioned 29,657 BTC seized from Silk Road in June, with Tim Draper purchasing the entire lot. [16, 17, 18]
  • 2015: Bitcoin price fell to $152 in January following prolonged bear market after Mt. Gox collapse. [14]
  • 2016: Lightning Network white paper “The Bitcoin Lightning Network: Scalable Off-Chain Instant Payments” published on January 14 by Joseph Poon and Thaddeus Dryja; Second Bitcoin halving reduced block reward from 25 BTC to 12.5 BTC on July 9; Bitfinex exchange hacked in August, resulting in theft of 120,000 BTC worth approximately $60 million. [19, 5, 45]
  • 2017: Bitcoin began year at approximately $1,000 in January, setting stage for historic bull run; Bitcoin price doubled to over $2,000 for the first time in May; JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon called Bitcoin “a fraud” and “worse than tulip bulbs” on September 12; China banned Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs) and began crackdown on cryptocurrency exchanges in September; Bitcoin received official Unicode symbol (₿) on November 1; Bitcoin futures trading launched on CME, world’s largest futures market, in December; Bitcoin reached all-time high near $20,000 on December 17 during cryptocurrency market bubble; Steam stopped accepting Bitcoin as payment on December 6 citing slow transaction speeds and high fees. [9, 20, 21, 4, 22, 23, 5, 5]
  • 2018: South Korea required all Bitcoin traders to reveal identity on January 22, banning anonymous trading; Virgin Money announced it would not allow customers to buy Bitcoin using credit cards on February 5; Laszlo Hanyecz made first Lightning Network pizza purchase on February 25, buying two pizzas for 0.00649 BTC; Warren Buffett called Bitcoin “probably rat poison squared” at Berkshire Hathaway meeting in May; Bitcoin price crashed to $3,429 on December 7 during “crypto winter.” [5, 15, 43, 15, 15]
  • 2019: Bitcoin began recovery in April, trading around $5,000 after difficult 2018; Bitcoin price surpassed $10,000 briefly during mid-year rally in June. [5, 25]
  • 2020: Bitcoin crashed below $4,000 in March during COVID-19 pandemic market panic; Third Bitcoin halving reduced block reward from 12.5 BTC to 6.25 BTC on May 11 amid COVID-19 pandemic; Frankfurt Stock Exchange admitted first Bitcoin exchange-traded note (ETN) for trading on September 3; Square Inc. (now Block) purchased $50 million in Bitcoin as treasury reserve asset and published investment whitepaper in October; Bitcoin reached approximately $29,000 in December, recovering strongly from pandemic lows; MassMutual purchased $100 million in Bitcoin for its general investment fund on December 10; Bitcoin surpassed previous all-time high above $20,000 on December 16 from 2017; Coinbase filed draft registration statement with SEC for initial public offering on December 17. [25, 26, 5, 46, 25, 21, 21, 21]
  • 2021: Tesla announced $1.5 billion Bitcoin purchase in February and briefly accepted BTC as payment before halting the practice; Laser eyes meme emerged in February as Bitcoin supporters, starting with NFL player Russell Okung and spreading to celebrities like Tom Brady, Paris Hilton, and MicroStrategy CEO Michael Saylor, added glowing laser eyes to Twitter profiles to signal support for Bitcoin reaching $100,000, marking mainstream adoption; Coinbase became first major cryptocurrency exchange to go public via direct listing on NASDAQ in April; El Salvador became first country to adopt Bitcoin as legal tender in June; Bitcoin reached new all-time high of approximately $69,000 in November during cryptocurrency bull market. [22, 48, 21, 15, 9]
  • 2022: Bitcoin began year around $47,000 in January before entering prolonged bear market; Terra-Luna ecosystem collapsed in May, wiping out $50 billion in value and triggering broader crypto market crash with Bitcoin falling below $30,000; Wikimedia Foundation stopped accepting Bitcoin donations after eight years in May; Bitcoin dropped below $18,000 in June, trading below 2017 highs amid crypto market turmoil; FTX exchange collapsed and filed for bankruptcy in November with $8 billion in missing customer funds, causing Bitcoin to fall further; James Zhong convicted in November for stealing 50,000 BTC from Silk Road in 2012, with IRS recovering over $3 billion in cryptocurrency. [27, 28, 29, 5, 5, 30, 31, 32]
  • 2023: Bitcoin began recovery rally in October, trading around $34,154 amid anticipation of spot ETF approvals. [25]
  • 2024: SEC approved 11 spot Bitcoin ETFs on January 10 including products from BlackRock, Fidelity, and Grayscale after decade-long regulatory battle; Spot Bitcoin ETFs began trading on January 11, marking most successful ETF launch in history; Bitcoin price exceeded $73,737 on March 14 reaching new all-time high following ETF approvals and anticipation of fourth halving; Fourth Bitcoin halving occurred on April 19, reducing block reward from 6.25 BTC to 3.125 BTC; US Federal Reserve announced first rate cut since COVID-19 pandemic on September 18, boosting Bitcoin price to around $64,000; SEC approved Bitcoin ETF options trading on Fidelity and ARK 21Shares funds on October 18; Bitcoin reached new all-time high of $76,999 on November 7 following Donald Trump’s re-election as President; Bitcoin surpassed $80,000 for first time on November 10, reaching $80,152 on Crypto.com; Bitcoin price reached $103,332 on December 4, with market capitalization approaching $2 trillion; Bitcoin reached all-time high of $108,388 on December 17 as institutional adoption accelerated. [33, 34, 35, 21, 36, 9, 37, 9, 9, 5, 38]
  • 2025: Bitcoin ETFs experienced record outflows on January 2 with BlackRock’s IBIT seeing largest single-day withdrawal of $332.6 million; MicroStrategy purchased additional 1,070 BTC for $101 million on January 6, bringing total holdings to 447,470 BTC; BlackRock CEO Larry Fink predicted Bitcoin could reach $700,000 in January, highlighting its potential as global macro asset and hedge against monetary instability; Multiple new Bitcoin ETF applications filed in January including structured protection ETFs and Bitcoin bond ETFs as institutional innovation accelerated; Bitcoin reached $109,439 on May 22 on eve of 15th anniversary of Bitcoin Pizza Day; Trump Media filed for Truth Social Bitcoin and Ethereum ETF on June 16, allocating 75% to Bitcoin and 25% to Ethereum. [39, 40, 26, 40, 41, 42]

Final Thoughts

Bitcoin’s transformation from an obscure cryptographic experiment to a trillion-dollar asset class represents one of the most remarkable financial stories of our time. Despite facing numerous existential threats—from exchange hacks and regulatory crackdowns to market crashes and technological challenges—Bitcoin has demonstrated extraordinary resilience. The approval of spot ETFs in 2024 marked Bitcoin’s full arrival into mainstream finance, while ongoing developments in scaling solutions and institutional adoption suggest its evolution is far from complete.

As Bitcoin approaches its third decade, it stands not merely as a digital currency but as a transformative force that has permanently altered our understanding of money, trust, and financial systems in the digital age.

Thanks for reading!

References

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[2] Genesis block – Bitcoin Wiki – https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Genesis_block

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[17] What Was Mt. Gox? Definition, History, Collapse, and Future – https://www.investopedia.com/terms/m/mt-gox.asp

[18] Government auctions off Bitcoins from Silk Road seizure | PBS News – https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/government-auctions-bitcoin-silk-road-seizure

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[29] Anatomy of a Stablecoin’s failure: The Terra-Luna case – ScienceDirect – https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1544612322005359

[30] The Collapse of FTX: What Went Wrong With the Crypto Exchange? – https://www.investopedia.com/what-went-wrong-with-ftx-6828447

[31] Crypto came crashing down in 2022 after starting out at record highs : NPR – https://www.npr.org/2022/12/29/1145297807/crypto-crash-ftx-cryptocurrency-bitcoin

[32] Southern District of New York | U.S. Attorney Announces Historic $3.36 Billion Cryptocurrency Seizure And Conviction In Connection With Silk Road Dark Web Fraud | United States Department of Justice – https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/pr/us-attorney-announces-historic-336-billion-cryptocurrency-seizure-and-conviction

[33] SEC.gov | Statement on the Approval of Spot Bitcoin Exchange-Traded Products – https://www.sec.gov/newsroom/speeches-statements/gensler-statement-spot-bitcoin-011023

[34] SEC approves bitcoin ETFs for some investment firms | CNN Business – https://www.cnn.com/2024/01/10/markets/bitcoin-etf-sec/index.html

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[38] Bitcoin Price, BTC Price, Live Charts, and Marketcap – https://www.coinbase.com/bitcoin-halving

[39] Bitcoin ETFs Start 2025 With Record Outflows | etf.com – https://www.etf.com/sections/news/bitcoin-etfs-start-2025-record-outflows

[40] Market Commentary: Choppy Start to 2025, BTC ETF Flows Steady, and the Path to Mainstream Adoption – https://www.talos.com/insights/week-in-review-2025-01-09

[41] Bitcoin Hits $109,439 Ahead of 15th Anniversary of Laszlo Hanyecz’s 10,000 BTC Pizza Purchase – “The Defiant” – https://thedefiant.io/news/blockchains/bitcoin-hits-109439-ahead-15th-anniversary-laszlo-hanyecz-s-10000-btc-pizza-d47a5215

[42] Donald Trump’s Truth Social Files for Dual BTC and ETH ETF – https://www.coindesk.com/business/2025/06/16/donald-trump-s-truth-social-files-for-dual-bitcoin-and-ether-etf

[43] 10 Years After Laszlo Hanyecz Bought Pizza With 10K Bitcoin, He Has No Regrets – https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2020/05/22/10-years-after-laszlo-hanyecz-bought-pizza-with-10k-bitcoin-he-has-no-regrets

[44] Bitcoin & Me (Hal Finney) – https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=155054.msg1643833#msg1643833

[45] The Bitcoin Lightning Network: Scalable Off-Chain Instant Payments – https://lightning.network/lightning-network-paper.pdf

[46] Square, Inc. Bitcoin Investment Whitepaper – https://s29.q4cdn.com/628966176/files/doc_downloads/Square-Inc.-Bitcoin-Investment-Whitepaper.pdf

[47] I AM HODLING – https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=375643.0

[48] I spy with my laser eye: A Twitter phenomenon to make Bitcoin mainstream? – https://cointelegraph.com/news/i-spy-with-my-laser-eye-a-twitter-phenomenon-to-make-bitcoin-mainstream