Bitcoin made headlines this week when the price of one bitcoin was $11,500 for only the first time in history.
While it’s frequently called a new technology, Bitcoin has existed since 2009, and the technology that it’s based on has roots that go back further. If you had put down just $1000 in Bitcoin in 2009, the year it became first made public and you’re now more prosperous by the sum of PS36.7 million..
If you don’t make the effort to learn from the past will repeat the mistakes made by the past. So here’s a quick history of cryptocurrency and Bitcoin. Find out about Bitcoin Up here.
1998 – 2009. before-Bitcoin days
While Bitcoin was the very first cryptocurrency, however, there were earlier attempts to create digital currencies using ledgers that were encrypted. Two of them were B-Money as well as Bit Gold, which were initially developed, but were never completely created.
2008 – The Mysterious Mr. Nakamoto
A document titled Bitcoin The Peer to Peer Electronic Cash System was uploaded on a mailing list for discussion about cryptography. The post was made by a person known as Satoshi Nakamoto, whose true identity is still unknown until today.
2009- Bitcoin starts
It is the first time that Bitcoin software is made accessible to the general public for the first time, and mining – is the process where newly created Bitcoins become available, and transactions are registered and verified on the blockchain.
- Bitcoin is being valued in the very first instance
Since it was never exchanged, but only mined, it was difficult to assign a price to the various units of the new cryptocurrency. In 2010, a person was able to sell their Bitcoins in the very first instance, exchanging 10,000 of them to buy two pizzas. If the buyer held on to the Bitcoins today, they’d be worth over $100 million.
2011 – Rival cryptocurrencies emerge
As Bitcoin grows in popularity and the concept of decentralized, encrypted currencies is adopted then the first alternative currencies begin to appear. They are often referred to as altcoin and usually attempt to improve the Bitcoin design by offering more speed, privacy, or another benefit. The first to appear was Namecoin as well as Litecoin. Today, there is more than 1,000 cryptocurrency in circulation, with new ones appearing frequently.
2013. Bitcoin price crash.
When the cost of one Bitcoin exceeds $1000 for the very first time it rapidly begins to decrease. Many investors who made investments in this time lost money as the value fell to $300 and it could be over 2 years until it hit $1,000.
2014 Scams and theft
It is not surprising that for a currency that was designed with the anonymity and freedom of choice to be considered, Bitcoin proved to be a highly lucrative and appealing opportunity for criminals. On January 1, 2014, the largest Bitcoin exchange Mt.Gox shut down, and the owners of 850,000 Bitcoins were never seen again. Investigators are trying to find the root of what transpired, however, whatever the reason it is clear that someone was dishonestly able to get an amount that was worth approximately $450 million. If today’s prices are comparable, the missing coins are in the range of $4.4 billion.
2016 – Ethereum and ICOs.
One cryptocurrency was close to taking the thunder of Bitcoin this year, as the excitement increased for Ethereum. Ethereum platform. The platform makes use of the cryptocurrency Ether to enable blockchain-based smart contracts and applications. The introduction of Ethereum was accompanied by the rise in the form of Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs). These are fundraising platforms that allow investors to sell what is usually mostly shares or stocks in new ventures similarly to the same way they are able to invest in and trade in cryptocurrencies. The US the SEC advised investors that due to the absence of oversight, ICOs could be frauds or Ponzi schemes disguised as legitimate investment opportunities. The Chinese government took it one step further, bans them in full.
2017 Bitcoin hits 10,000 and is continuing to increase
An increase in the areas in which Bitcoin could be used has been a factor in its continuing rise in popularity, despite an era when its value was lower than previous peak levels. As increasing uses came to light it became evident there were more and more dollars entering the Bitcoin and crypto coins ecosystem. In the course of time, the market value of all crypto coins increased from $11bn up to the current peak of more than $300 billion. Banks such as Barclays, Citi Bank, Deutsche Bank, and BNP Paribas have said they are exploring ways in which they may be able to collaborate with Bitcoin. The technology that is behind Bitcoin — also known as blockchain has created an exciting revolutionary change in the fintech field (and beyond) which is beginning to take off.
No matter what your views are regarding Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies and the educated comments that have said they are everything in between the new money to a complete fraud, it seems that they’re going to be around for the long haul. Will it succeed in doing what many early adopters and evangelists claim it is destined to – replace government-controlled, centralized money with a distributed and decentralized alternative, controlled by nothing besides market forces? The year 2018 could provide some clues, but we are likely to have the answer for a while in the near future.
