History and Origin of Bitcoin - Price Evolution and Historical Graph

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Bitcoin is a digital payment system and a cryptocurrency that has revolutionized the technology industry with the creation of the blockchain. To talk about the origin of bitcoin it is necessary to talk about Satoshi Nakamoto, the mysterious pseudonym used by its creator. Learn about the history of bitcoin with a detailed description of its price evolution, historical quotation and an interactive historical graph.

Background of bitcoin

The idea of creating a digital financial system or a virtual currency was not the idea of the founder of bitcoin. However, Satoshi Nakamoto achieved something that others hadn't done before: Creating a decentralized payment platform.

Some of these attempts, which are the background of cryptocurrencies, are the following:

• David Chaum and Stefan Brands created a digital cash technology under the eCash protocols, published in an article in 1982. However, these protocols had a centralized issuer. In 1990, Chaum launched DigiCash, a digital cash system based on the ideas of eCash. DigiCash declared bankruptcy in 1998.
• Adam Back developed hashcash, a system based on proof of work dedicated to controlling spam in email accounts.

• In 1998, computer engineer Wei Dai presented an article describing b-money, a digital money system that laid many of the foundations on which bitcoin has been based. B-money was never developed.
• Nick Szabo, also in 1998, designed a decentralized digital currency called bit gold. It was also not implemented, but it is referred to as the direct precursor to the architecture of Bitcoin.

Many of these names have been tried to be related to Nakamoto's identity, however, they have always been denied. What does seem certain is that Satoshi contacted some of them during the creation of bitcoin. For example, the bitcoin white paper includes a reference to the article where Wei Dai described b-money.

They were also the first to support the spread of bitcoin. In 2010, Hal Finney installed the Bitcoin software on the same day it was launched and was the recipient of the considered first transaction in the history of bitcoin: He received 10 BTC from Satoshi himself.

But let's not get ahead of ourselves...

How bitcoin was born

The origin of bitcoin dates back to November 2008, when, in a chain of emails sharing information about cryptography, someone, using the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto, distributed an article titled: Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System. The article was the white paper of the cryptocurrency and described the definition of bitcoin and the design of a decentralized electronic transaction system.

But it wasn't until January 4, 2009 when Bitcoin was created (properly speaking). On this date, Satoshi Nakamoto released the first open source Bitcoin client and registered the first block of the Bitcoin blockchain, called the genesis block.

The first bitcoin transaction takes place on January 12, the aforementioned one between Satoshi Nakamoto and Hal Finney.

When bitcoin was born, it didn't enjoy much popularity and it was the cryptographic community that supported and spread the use of the first cryptocurrency. Initially, it was only exchanged for entertainment, so the initial price of bitcoin was zero.

When was Bitcoin born?

There are two dates to define when Bitcoin was created:

• November 2008, when Satoshi Nakamoto made the Bitcoin white paper public.
• January 4, 2009, when the first Bitcoin block was registered.

It is estimated that during the early days, Satoshi Nakamoto mined one million bitcoins. For this reason, many estimate Satoshi Nakamoto's fortune to be over 3.5 billion dollars. (source)

At the end of 2010, Satoshi Nakamoto abandoned the Bitcoin project and handed it over to software developer Gavin Andresen.

To help its dissemination, in 2010, Andresen developed the first Bitcoin faucet that gave away 5 BTC daily. (source)

During the years 2009 and 2010, Bitcoin received little attention. During most of this time, its value remained below a cent. But starting from 2011, the rules of the game changed.

Bitcoin evolution

2011

• Some companies and associations begin to accept bitcoin as a means of payment, such as Electronic Frontier Foundation or Wikileaks.
• WeUseCoins publishes the first viral video to promote the use of bitcoin. Currently, it has almost 10 million views.
• On June 13, 2011, a user from a forum announces what is considered the first bitcoin theft in history. In the post, he explains how 25,000 BTC was stolen from a bitcoin wallet.
• In January 2011, Silk Road is founded, a company that distributed narcotics in exchange for bitcoins.
• On February 9, 2011, bitcoin reaches parity with the dollar. In April, the same happens with the euro.
• In September 2011, Vitalik Buterin co-founds the online magazine Bitcoin Magazine.
• On November 28, 2011, the first bitcoin halving takes place, reducing the reward that miners receive for each created block from 50 BTC to 25 BTC.
• Other cryptocurrencies start to be created under the open-source code of Bitcoin.
• The price of bitcoin exceeds parity with the dollar and the first bitcoin bubble is talked about. In June, bitcoin was worth over $31, although its value later plummeted.

2012

• During the month of January 2012, Bitcoin appears for the first time on television, starring in the episode titled Bitcoin for Dummies of the series The Good Wife broadcasted by CBS.
• In June 2012, Coinbase is launched, one of the largest Bitcoin exchanges nowadays.
• In September 2012, the Bitcoin Foundation is created, with the objective of accelerating the global growth of bitcoin through standardization, protection, and promotion of the open-source protocol. Among its founders is Gavin Andresen, responsible at that time for the development of bitcoin.
• In October 2012, there were already more than 1000 merchants accepting bitcoin through the BitPay platform. In the same month, Coinbase launches a service in the US through which its users can acquire bitcoin through bank transfer.
• In 2012, the price trend of bitcoin is bullish and reaches $13.

2013

• In February 2013, Coinbase announced that it was already selling more than 1 million bitcoins per month.
• In March, the blockchain forked for 6 hours into two independent blockchains with different consensus rules. This caused massive bitcoin sell-offs and price drops, although it recovered shortly after.
• In April, the bitcoin network started experiencing its first congestion, negatively influencing the price.
• On June 23, 2013, the United States Drug Enforcement Administration reported that it had seized 11.02 bitcoins. It was the first time a government agency seized a digital currency. It happened again in October when the FBI seized approximately 26,000 BTC from the owner of the Silk Road website.
• In July, the Government of Thailand banned the use of bitcoin in the country.
• In August 2013, some government agencies recognized the financial value of cryptocurrencies. This was the case of Federal Judge Amos Mazzant, Eastern District of Texas, Fifth Circuit, and the German Ministry of Finance.
• On October 29, 2013, the world's first bitcoin ATM was launched in a café in Vancouver, Canada.
• On November 18, 2013, the US Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs held the first hearing on Bitcoin. Two days later, the same happened in the Senate Banking Committee, and regulators agreed not to do anything to impede the development of the currency.
• In November, the bitcoin price reached a historical high at $1250.
• On December 5, 2013, the People's Bank of China banned Chinese financial institutions from using bitcoins.
• Some major companies announced the acceptance of bitcoin in their payments during 2013, such as Overstock.com, OKCupid, and Foodler.

2014

• During 2014 many companies started accepting bitcoin. From the video game developer Zynga, to the casino The D Las Vegas and the Golden Gate Hotel & Casino in downtown Las Vegas. Also important companies like Dell (in July) or Microsoft (in December).
• In February 2014 the bitcoin exchange Mt. Gox announced its closure after declaring bankruptcy due to the theft of 744,000 bitcoins.
• In June 2014, mining power exceeded 100 petahashes/second.

2015

• In January 2015, Coinbase raised $75 million in a funding round.
• Also in January 2015, the Bitstamp exchange announced the theft of 19,000 BTC from its customers' wallets, which amounted to over $5 million. The company returned the cryptocurrencies to its customers after strengthening the security measures of its platform.
• In June 2015, the state of New York launched the BitLicense, the first regulation specifically aimed at digital currency businesses.
• On July 30, 2015, Ethereum was created.
• In August 2015, it was estimated that there were 160,000 merchants accepting bitcoin. Barclays, the first British commercial bank, joined them by accepting bitcoins for a donations system to NGOs.

2016

• In January 2016, mining power surpassed 1 exahash/second.
• In August 2016, another bitcoin exchange, Bitfinex, announced the theft of 120,000 BTC, equivalent to about $60 million.
• On July 9, 2016, the second halving took place. Miners started receiving 12.5 BTC per block, down from 25 BTC.
• By September 2016, there were already 771 bitcoin ATMs worldwide.
• Among the major companies that started accepting bitcoin in 2016 are South Africa's largest online store, Bidorbuy (in March), online video game store Steam (in April), Uber Argentina (in July), and the Swiss Federal Railways (in November).
• During this year, the malicious software known as Ransomware was created. The computer virus kidnaps valuable information from a user and demands a ransom in bitcoins in return.

2017

2017 was a tumultuous year for bitcoin, with significant events occurring for the cryptocurrency and its price experiencing a real rally.

• In April 2017, Japan legalized bitcoin through a law that accepted it as a method of payment.
• In July 2017, China announced the creation of its own cryptocurrency.
• In November, it was announced that institutions such as CBOE, CME, LedgerX, and Credit Suisse Bank may offer futures contracts based on bitcoin.
• In December 2016, CBOE and CME began trading these futures, causing the all-time high in bitcoin's history: On December 17, it reached $19,798.
• In August 2016, the SegWit protocol was activated. This allowed for an increase in the number of transactions per block to over 2000 transactions per 1 MB and resulted in a decrease in processing fees and faster transaction speeds.
• 2017 was also the year of hard forks. Changes in the Bitcoin protocol, such as the activation of SegWit, were not made under full consensus from its users. Therefore, some created their own blockchain without these modifications, giving rise to new cryptocurrencies. The first one (and the most accepted) is Bitcoin Cash, followed by multiple forks such as Bitcoin Gold, Bitcoin Silver, Bitcoin Diamond, Bitcoin Platinum, Bitcoin Uranium, Super Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash Plus, or Bitcoin God.

2018

• In January 2018, rapper 50 Cent announced that he made 8.5 million dollars thanks to bitcoin.
• Also in January, the Spanish Ministry of Finance published the new Tax and Customs Control Action Plan. It highlighted that during this period, the tax authorities would intensify control over the cryptocurrency market. The objective was to develop a legislative framework to regulate bitcoin taxes.
• Another event that took place in January 2018 was the Coincheck hack. Coincheck, a Japanese cryptocurrency exchange, was hacked, resulting in the loss of approximately $530 million in NEM (XEM) tokens.
• In February 2018, the Spanish CNMV issued a statement warning about the risks of bitcoin.
• In February, Brussels announced that the European Commission focuses on cryptocurrencies based on three premises: one, embracing the opportunities of blockchain technology; two, providing information about the risks associated with investing in virtual currencies; and three, the European Commission will decide no later than early 2019 whether it is necessary to introduce its own legislation to regulate cryptocurrencies.
• Also in February 2018, the Venezuelan government launched Petro, a blockchain-based token. However, it has been criticized and not classified as a cryptocurrency due to its centralized nature. Many consider it a scam.
• In April 2018, the Spanish Tax Agency requested financial information from 60 entities related to bitcoin.
• In June 2018, the EOS mainnet was launched, a blockchain platform for decentralized application (dApp) development that promises greater scalability and user-friendliness compared to Ethereum.
• During 2018, bitcoin lost more than 80% of its peak value reached in 2017, with a minimum below $3,300 in December.
• In 2018, the DeFi ecosystem started taking shape with the emergence of platforms like MakerDAO and Compound, allowing users to obtain loans and lend cryptocurrencies in a decentralized manner.

2019

• January to June - Recovery of the cryptocurrency market: During the first half of 2019, the price of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies started to recover after the market crash in 2018. Bitcoin reached a peak of around $13,800 in June before experiencing a correction in the second half of the year.
• June - Facebook's Libra announcement: In June 2019, Facebook announced its plans to launch its own cryptocurrency, Libra (now known as Diem). This attracted the attention of regulators and lawmakers worldwide and sparked a debate about the entry of large tech companies into the cryptocurrency space.
• Throughout the year - Rise of decentralized finance (DeFi): In 2019, the DeFi ecosystem continued to grow, with platforms like MakerDAO, Compound, and Uniswap gaining popularity in the cryptocurrency space.
• Throughout the year - Adoption of blockchain technology by companies and institutions: In 2019, many companies, including IBM, Walmart, and JP Morgan, started adopting blockchain technology to improve their business processes and develop new solutions.
• Throughout the year - Development and launch of Bitcoin's Lightning Network: The Lightning Network, a second-layer scalability solution for Bitcoin, continued its development and adoption in 2019, enabling faster and more cost-effective transactions on the Bitcoin network.
• Throughout the year - Regulation of cryptocurrencies and initial coin offerings (ICOs): Regulators worldwide continued to pay attention to cryptocurrencies and ICOs in 2019, establishing clearer guidelines and regulations to protect investors and ensure market transparency.
• September - Launch of Binance.US: In September 2019, Binance, one of the world's largest cryptocurrency exchanges, launched a separate platform for US customers called Binance.US, complying with local regulations.

2020

• March 2020 - Fall of the cryptocurrency market and subsequent recovery: In March 2020, the cryptocurrency market experienced a significant fall due to the global uncertainty caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the market quickly recovered in the following months, with Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies increasing significantly in value.
• May 2020 - Third Bitcoin halving: On May 11, 2020, the third Bitcoin halving occurred, a scheduled event that cuts the reward for mined blocks in half. The block reward went from 12.5 BTC to 6.25 BTC, which had an impact on the Bitcoin mining economy and market expectations.
• July 2020 - Launch of the Compound protocol token and the rise of "yield farming" in DeFi: In June and July 2020, Compound, a decentralized lending platform, launched its governance token COMP, which led to the rise of "yield farming" in the DeFi space. This phenomenon contributed to rapid growth and expansion of the DeFi industry.
• August 2020 - Rise of governance tokens and Initial DEX Offerings (IDO): During the summer of 2020, the DeFi space saw the launch of multiple governance tokens and decentralized exchange (DEX) platforms, such as Uniswap, which conducted its Initial DEX Offering (IDO) for its UNI token in September.
• September 2020 - SUSHI and controversy surrounding SushiSwap: In September 2020, SushiSwap, a fork of Uniswap, attracted attention in the cryptocurrency community due to the controversy surrounding its anonymous founder, Chef Nomi, who sold a large amount of SUSHI tokens before returning the funds and handing over control of the project to the community.
• October 2020 - Institutional adoption of Bitcoin: Throughout 2020, several companies and institutional investors started investing in Bitcoin as a store of value and hedge against inflation. In October, Square Inc., led by Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, announced the purchase of 4,709 Bitcoins worth approximately $50 million at that time.
• December 2020 - Bitcoin reaches new all-time highs: In December 2020, Bitcoin surpassed its previous all-time high and continued its ascent, surpassing $20,000 and reaching nearly $30,000 by the end of the year.

2021

• January 2021 - Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies reach new all-time highs: In January 2021, Bitcoin continued its surge, surpassing $40,000. Other cryptocurrencies, such as Ethereum, also reached new all-time highs during this period.
• February 2021 - Tesla invests in Bitcoin: In February 2021, Tesla, led by Elon Musk, announced the purchase of $1.5 billion in Bitcoin, further driving institutional adoption and interest in cryptocurrencies.
• March 2021 - Launch of non-fungible tokens (NFTs): In early 2021, NFTs gained significant popularity in the cryptocurrency and digital art space, with NFT sales reaching millions of dollars and attracting attention from artists, collectors, and celebrities.
• May 2021 - Cryptocurrency market crash and environmental concerns: In May 2021, the cryptocurrency market experienced a significant correction, partly due to environmental concerns regarding Bitcoin mining energy consumption and Elon Musk's statements about suspending Bitcoin payments for Tesla.
• July 2021 - Ethereum London and EIP-1559 update: In August 2021, the Ethereum network implemented the London update, which included the Ethereum Improvement Proposal EIP-1559. This update changed Ethereum's fee structure and added mechanisms for burning ETH tokens to reduce inflation.
• August 2021 - Expansion of decentralized finance (DeFi) ecosystem and rise of cross-chain protocols: Throughout 2021, the DeFi ecosystem continued to expand, and new cross-chain protocols and solutions, such as Polygon, emerged to address scalability and transaction cost issues on Ethereum.
• September 2021 - El Salvador adopts Bitcoin as legal tender: On September 7, 2021, El Salvador became the first country to adopt Bitcoin as legal tender, sparking debates about the adoption of cryptocurrencies by other countries in the future.
• Throughout 2021 - Rise of test networks and progress towards Ethereum 2.0: Significant progress was made in 2021 towards transitioning Ethereum to Ethereum 2.0, a major upgrade that aims to improve scalability, security, and sustainability of the network through a transition to a proof-of-stake (PoS) consensus.

2022

• March 2022 - Joe Biden, President of the United States, signs the first national strategy regarding digital assets. This is seen as a recognition of the importance of cryptocurrencies in society and the financial sector.
• Also in March 2022, one of the largest hacks in history took place: The Ronin network, an Ethereum layer 2 for the NFT game Axie Infinity, suffered a theft worth over $600 million. It was later discovered that the North Korean hacking group Lazarus was behind the hack.
• In April 2022, the Central African Republic becomes the second country in the world to recognize Bitcoin as a legal tender.
• In May 2022, LUNA collapsed, one of the top 10 cryptocurrencies by market capitalization at the time. The stablecoin of the project, UST, lost parity with the dollar and caused the LUNA token to go from over $200 to 0 in a few days. Currently, the project creator, Do Kwon, is wanted. The project split into two: a new one called LUNA and the failed one renamed Luna Classic.
• On June 13, 2022, the cryptocurrency lending service Celsius halts its operations. Shortly after, it files for bankruptcy due to its exposure to LUNA.
• The collapse of LUNA also affected Bitcoin, which dropped below $20,000 for the first time since 2020.
• In July 2022, another victim exposed to LUNA falls: One of the largest cryptocurrency investment funds, Three Arrows Capital (3AC), files for bankruptcy protection in New York.
• In August 2022, Blackrock, the world's largest asset manager, announces an agreement with Coinbase to offer cryptocurrency-related services to its clients.
• Also in August 2022, Tornado Cash is sanctioned by the United States, a transaction mixer on the Ethereum network, alleging its use for money laundering. The sanction caused a great controversy as it affected the decentralization of the crypto space.
• On September 15, 2022, Ethereum implements the upgrade called The Merge. Ethereum transitions from a Proof of Work (PoW) consensus algorithm to a Proof of Stake (PoS) algorithm.
• The European Council approves the MiCA directive, a legislative framework of the European Union for the regulation of cryptocurrencies.
• In November 2022, the second largest exchange in the world, FTX, collapses. The misconduct of its executives became public in an article on Coindesk, causing rumors of insolvency. On November 11, the company announced its bankruptcy and its CEO and founder, Sam Bankman-Fried, resigned from his position.
• The collapse of FTX triggered a domino effect in the industry: the lending platform Blockfi filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the US, Genesis halted withdrawals and warned of possible bankruptcy, and Bitcoin fell below $16,000.
• In December 2022, financial services giant Fidelity launches a retail cryptocurrency trading service.

Bitcoin Historical Price and Value

Bitcoin Historical Chart - Euro and Dollar

Finally, you can see everything mentioned above in the following Bitcoin historical chart. You can see the evolution of Bitcoin in Euro and Dollar with the corresponding buttons.