Although Bitcoin has been around for a while, it was only recently that the term and concept became known to the mainstream public. Initially, the cryptocurrency piqued the interest of the niche fintech industry. Its decentralized nature, which allowed for unbounded peer-to-peer transactions, became its primary advantage over fiat or real-world money.
Nowadays, Bitcoin has risen to become the leading cryptocurrency in the market, even with the emergence of altcoins like Ethereum, Litecoin, Ripple, Dash, and even Bitcoin Cash. New ways of acquiring and growing these digital assets have also popped up, like through automated trading that uses trading robots. Check out this in-depth review to learn more about how the process works.
To better understand when Bitcoin became popular, here are some notable dates that led to the cryptocurrency’s dominance in today’s market:
October 31, 2008
On October 31, 2008, a certain Satoshi Nakamoto, which is believed to be a pseudonym, published a whitepaper about Bitcoin and its peer-to-peer electronic cash system. It provided details on what the concept is and how it works. The paper came a few months after the bitcoin.org domain name was registered.
January 3, 2009
Another few months after the concept was made known to the public, Nakamoto mined the genesis block, which was the foundation of the Bitcoin network. The project rewarded him with 50 BTC.
January 12, 2009
After nine days, Satoshi Nakamoto performed the first Bitcoin transaction by sending BTC to Hal Finney, a developer. There were speculations that Finney and Nakamoto were the same person. However, no evidence was found to back up this claim.
These are the parties involved in a Bitcoin transaction:
● Sender – Let’s say User A wants to send 0.3 BTC to User B. They will need to open their Bitcoin wallet and scan or copy the recipient’s address. Afterward, they should fill out the amount that they want to transfer and confirm the transaction.
● Machine – The wallet should sign the transaction with a private key that’s only for User A’s account. The network nodes will then propagate and validate the transfer, which is included and worked on by miners in the next block in the chain. The one who successfully calculates the mathematical hash as proof-of-work transmits that particular block to the network.
● Recipient – After the machine verifies the proof-of-work, User B will receive the amount without difficulty.
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March 17, 2010
The first Bitcoin exchange, BitcoinMarket.com, began its operations. At the time, BTC was valued at 0.003 USD. Bitcoin Market has since ceased being in service.
May 22, 2010
On May 22, 2010, Bitcoin was used as payment for a real-life transaction by Laszlo Hanyecz. He paid 10,000 BTC for two pizzas in Jacksonville, Florida. The cryptocurrency’s value then was less than 0.01 USD.
July 11-12, 2010
July 11, 2010, saw a significant increase in the number of Bitcoin users. This could be the reason why the cryptocurrency’s exchange rate rose considerably from 0.008 USD to 0.08 USD per BTC the day after.
A few months later, in October of the same year, the price surpassed one bit and continued to increase. By February 2011, Bitcoin’s value has reached 1 USD.
June 8, 2011
At this time, Bitcoin reached a milestone value of 31 USD per BTC. It was considered as the top of the first bubble. However, a subsequent price drop occurred.
This time appears to have been the starting point of BTC’s volatility, which may have been caused by people’s lack of confidence or consensus on the cryptocurrency. By December of the same year, BTC’s price has dropped back to 2 USD.
April 11, 2013
2012 was an unremarkable year for Bitcoin with its price going through a slow year-long rise that ended at 13 USD per BTC by December. Nonetheless, the crypto’s value would continue to increase as it rallied towards 266 USD on April 11, 2013.
By the next month, though, the price has dropped once more to 130 USD. The electronic cash’s performance would prove to be mostly stable at this time while going on a steady rise.
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November 29, 2013
Bitcoin’s value soared once again from 150 USD in October to 200 USD in early November. The price reached as high as 1,242 USD on November 29, 2013. Still, this peak was characterized by a crash toward 600 USD per BTC in December of the same year. The cryptocurrency ended 2013 with stable price movements within the 650 USD to 800 USD range.
February 2014
Japanese Bitcoin exchange Mt. Gox was believed to have played a significant role in the price crash of February 2014 following its shutdown. The company was one of the largest at the time and handled a majority of transactions. However, due to poor security measures and operational procedures, Mt. Gox tumbled and took its users’ digital assets down with them, which had an estimated total of approximately 740,000 BTC.
The catastrophe became a cautionary tale for those interested to acquire and trade Bitcoins. Nonetheless, BTC’s price still fell within the 550 USD to 750 USD range from 2014 to 2016.
March 2017
Fast forward to March 2017 when Bitcoin’s price broke November 2013’s record of 1,242 USD. By then, the cryptocurrency’s value reached the thousands range once again with 1,290 USD per BTC.
2017 was the best year for Bitcoin as its price continually rose to new heights. The subsequent months broke the record, from reaching 2,000 USD in May of the same year to 8,100 USD by November.
December 17, 2017
Bitcoin price’s ultimate peak came on December 17, 2017, where it reached an all-time high of 19,783 USD. The hype surrounding the cryptocurrency led to it being reported by mainstream media outlets and, as a result, becoming a household term.
However, as with other significant peaks, Bitcoin lost a third of its value by December 22. It entered 2018 with a price of about 3,000 USD per BTC.
October 31, 2018
During the 10th anniversary of Bitcoin, its price sat on the 6,000 USD range. It continued to float just above the amount through November and December 2018, which characterized a period of low volatility.
Conclusion
As of August 2019, Bitcoin’s price is at 9,500 USD. The cryptocurrency has shown that it can withstand time and other pressures. While it’s unlikely that BTC’s value would soar as high as 2017’s again, analysts have a positive outlook for it, especially since world governments are developing regulations that support this electronic cash system and its alternatives.
Cover image: Shutterstock
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