There is a reason why Bitcoin currently is, and may always be crowned king. Not only is it the first cryptocurrency, but it is also the most secure, the most trusted, and the most widely used and accepted crypto of them all. So let's take a walk down memory lane…
On August 18th 2008,the domain name bitcoin.org was registered. Later that year, on October 31st, a link to a paper authored by Satoshi Nakamoto titled Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System was posted to a cryptography mailing list. This paper detailed methods of using a peer-to-peer network to generate what was described as "a system for electronic transactions without relying on trust". On January 3rd 2009, the bitcoin network came into existence with Satoshi Nakamoto mining the genesis block of bitcoin (block number 0), which had a reward of 50 bitcoins. Embedded in the coinbase of this block was the text: "The Times 03/Jan/2009 Chancellor on brink of second bailout for banks." The text refers to a headline in The Times published on 3 January 2009. This note has been interpreted as both a timestamp of the genesis date and a derisive comment on the instability caused by fractional-reserve banking. Bitcoin had begun. The creation of a new digital currency free from governmental or corporate control had finally taken place.
Bitcoin would make the transition from just an idea, to actually being implemented. The receiver of the first bitcoin transaction Hal Finney received ten bitcoins from Nakamoto on January 12th 2009. In 2010 the first known commercial transaction using bitcoin occurred when programmer Laszlo Hanyecz bought two pizzas for ₿10,000. Blockchain analysts estimate that Nakamoto had mined about one million bitcoins before disappearing in 2010, when he handed the network alert key and control of the code repository over to Gavin Andresen, whom later became lead developer at the Bitcoin Foundation. Andresen then sought to decentralize control. This left opportunity for controversy to develop over the future development path of bitcoin, in contrast to the perceived authority of Nakamoto's contributions. The first real price increase occurred in July 2010 when bitcoin went from around $0.0008 to $0.08 for a single coin. Litecoin, an early bitcoin spin-off appeared in October 2011. Many more cryptos would soon follow. By August 17th, 2012 the price had grown exponentially to $16.41. The Bitcoin Foundation was founded in September 2012 to promote bitcoin's development and uptake.
The following few years Bitcoin would face many challenges. With It's usage in black markets, being prohibited by certain governments, fall of major exchanges, and several price crashes...Bitcoin would deal with many ups and downs. But regardless of its versatility and the difficulties presented... the price, fundamentals, and adoption would continue to steadily grown. The network had now dramatically increased and major businesses such as Overstock in 2014 would come to accept it.
As Bitcoin gained traction and immense price growth, it finally received serious attention of the media. It has had many parabolic cycles throughout its history…but it wasn’t until Bitcoin nearly hit $20,000 on Dec 17, 2017 that but a glimpse of it’s true strength was revealed. The general public was officially put on notice and it had begun to receive worldwide recognition. And Bitcoin did not share the success alone as many altcoins such as Ethereum, XRP, Litecoin, etc....had received tremendous gains. Though its price along with the entire crypto market would drop immensely yet again, the newfound interest by governments, businesses, commercial institutions, and naysayers could no longer be denied. 2018-2019 would provide 2 years of new price discovery, but more importantly a greater development for bitcoin and the cryptocurrency market as a whole. The focus was no longer just on price, but a shift to the underlying fundamentals of this newfound technology would take place. It has made the transition from pure speculation to actual usage. Crypto projects were now providing legitimate products as opposed to just making promises.
It is now 2023! Despite the wild roller coaster ride, today Bitcoin has outperformed any other asset throughout the history of time in just over 14 years. With more exchanges, storage wallets, crypto ATM's, businesses accepting it, merchants using it, banks allowing it, institutions investing in it, governments implementing it, and retail adopting it... It is said by many true believers that Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies alike, will be the single most trusted form of both currency and store of value in the world one day. With increased economic failures in traditional systems, constant inflation, corruption, mismanagement of funds, monetary policies that significantly favor the wealthy, many also feel it will be sooner than we anticipate. Cryptocurrency was created as a new form of money released from the bounds of restrictions and manipulation. With increased belief, support, and acceptance worldwide it can become the greatest economic shift in history!
