A brief history of Bitcoin ⏳
💡 Daily Reminder: Stay humble, stack sats
Bitcoiners,
Here is a brief historical timeline of Bitcoin so beginners can gain a better understanding of the events that led up to Bitcoin in its current state today.
1972-2002
Prior to the release of bitcoin, there were a number of digital cash technologies created by the cypherpunks of the early internet. The cypherpunks advocated the widespread use of strong cryptography and privacy-enhancing technologies as a route to social and political change. Key Advances in systems such as public-key cryptography and proof-of-work systems were made from 1976 to 2002 including:
David Chaum’s “Digi Cash”
Wei Dai’s “B-Money”
Nick Szabo’s “Big Gold”
Adam Back’s “Hashcash”
2008-2010
A month after the worst stock trading day of the Global Financial Crisis of 2008, the Bitcoin Whitepaper is posted by Satoshi Nakamoto, the pseudonymous creator of Bitcoin. Think of Bitcoin as a culmination of ideas from the 1972-2002 period that were tied together elegantly. In January 2009, the Bitcoin network came into existence with Satoshi Nakamoto mining the Genesis Block (block number 0). By the end of 2010, bitcoin's market cap reached $1 million dollars.
2011-2016
In 2011, creator Satoshi Nakamoto vanishes leaving Bitcoin development to the small online community. By March 2013, bitcoin's market cap reached $1 billion dollars. At this point, the US government starts getting involved by shutting down the popular online black market website, The Silk Road, on which bitcoin was used extensively as a means of payment. The US government also declares bitcoin will be treated as property by the IRS during this time.
2017-2018
This period is categorized by a major price bubble and the Fork Wars. By October 2017, bitcoin's market cap reached $100 billion dollars, bringing on many new retail investors (including myself). Bitcoin's blockchain was forked many times during this time period with new sets of rules and names to go along with the protocol. Some forked examples include Bitcoin Cash, Bitcoin Gold, BSV, etc. Ultimately, the free market decided the winner of the fork wars, which is the 1mb block size bitcoin protocol worth ~$20,000 today.
2019-2022
The last few years introduced both institutional and nation-state adoption of bitcoin. Major public companies such as Microstrategy and Tesla bought billions of dollars worth meanwhile El Salvador became the first country to make bitcoin legal tender. Another price bubble allowed Bitcoin's market cap to reach $1 trillion dollars in February 2021. Today, Bitcoin is a multibillion-dollar industry gearing up to flourish in this decade's demise of central banking systems.
Let’s hope bitcoin continues to prosper into this decade.
Happy Friday,
-Pod
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Eric Podwojski
Founder, Bitcoin EDU
Twitter: @epodrulz
Disclaimer: This should go without saying: This is not financial advice. This is not investment advice. I write this newsletter for education and entertainment. Act accordingly.
