Celebrating Bitcoin at 17. the journey so far.

[Olotu20]

In what appeared like a social experiment seventeen years ago is now one of the best things that, has happened in this twenty first century. Satoshi Nakamoto created something on a white paper and published it and called it Bitcoin some seventeen years ago and this year makes it exactly seventeen years. A pear to pear payment system which will see the elimination of a third party when making payments, it should be noted that the main idea about Bitcoin was to serve as a store of value.

Jus as the popular saying that goes that, no good thing comes without any challenges or oppositions Bitcoin has faced several challenges and opposition in this seventeen years period before finding itself to where Bitcoin is today.the starting face of Bitcoin was charactarized by the problem of acceptability, as many people didn't believe in the idea behind Bitcoin and the prospect that it holds in the future some said it will eventually die a natural death with time and so missed a lifetime of opportunity to change their life by investing into Bitcoin when Bitcoin was just at a give away price.

Rewind the hand of time today has become such a success story that every is talking about it and wants to own it, as for those who missed out they are still regretting today. Bitcoin has has surpassed every expectations and has bitten all the odds that today Bitcoin now dictates the pace of the global financial markets and can be described as a revolution because, today bitcoin has moved beyond just a store of value but is now seen as one of the world's best assets with a liquidation amounting to billions of dollars. Today Bitcoin is not just a payment methods but is also considered as a source of income to many because of its investments prospects and has lifted many out of their economic situation.

Here are something important moments that defined the history of Bitcoin in the last seventeen years.

2008–2009 Bitcoin was Born

October 31, 2008.
The white paper on Bitcoin was created by Satoshi Nakamoto. A Peer-to-Peer Electronic payment system that will lead to the elimination of third party

January 3, 2009.
The first block of Bitcoin was mined and was called the Genesis block marking the creation of Bitcoin.


 2010 The First Real-World Use

May 22, 2010  The first ever Bitcoin transaction happened, this was when Bitcoin was used in purchasing something in the market and was accepted this market a significant milestone in Bitcoin history. Laszlo Hanyecz buys two pizza with 10,000 Bitcoin

Late 2010
Satoshi disappears leaving the everyone with the Bitcoin project and this really brought some confusion and tensions among early Bitcoin adapters.

 2011–2013 Early Adoption & Market Emergence
Bitcoin reaches parity with the US dollar as  1 BTC = $1 for the first time ever since it's launching.

2012
 Bitcoin ever first halving happened as block reward drops from 50 to 25 BTC.

2013
Bitcoin surpasses $1,000 for the first time. This was when major exchanges like Mt. Gox dominate trading but later face issues.

 2014 Mt. Gox Collapse

February 2014
Mt. Gox,  which was handling  about 70% of Bitcoin trades collapses after losing 850,000 Bitcoin due to hacking on their system, this actually lead to a massive  bear market and also  regulatory scrutiny in the history of Bitcoin.

2015–2016  Maturity & Infrastructure Growth

This was when the Second halving of Bitcoin took place rewards drop to 12.5 BTC.

2017 The Great Expansion

The SegWit upgrade activates leading to a massive improvement in scalability.
December 2017
Bitcoin hits a all time high of $19,000, this was when Bitcoin trading launches on major US exchanges.


 2018–2019 Crash and Institutional Entry

2018
The market crashes Bitcoin falls below $4,000 causing tension among early holders and this led many people to sell of their holdings.

2019
Institutional platforms like Bakkt and Fidelity Digital Assets emerge.
Bitcoin begins regaining confidence.


 2020–2021 Global Recognition & Institutional Adoption

2020
Third halving 12.5 → 6.25 BTC
COVID-19 crisis leads to massive interest in Bitcoin as digital gold because the pandemic opened the eyes of every one to the realization that the world financial system is heading towards online due to the restriction in movement Companies like MicroStrategy and Tesla start buying Bitcoin.

2021
Bitcoin hits a new high of $69,000.
El Salvador adopts Bitcoin as legal tender  a historic first.which send a right message to other countries to look towards the way of bitcoin the first Bitcoin ETF launches in the U.S.

 2022–2023: Bear Market & Regulation Era

2022
The FTX exchange collapse shocks the market leading to distrust and regulatory crackdowns which lead to Bitcoin droping below $20,000.

2024–2025 Institutional Integration & Fourth Halving

April 2024
Fourth halving  rewards cut from 6.25 to 3.125 BTC.

2025
 Bitcoin ETFs drive massive institutional inflows.

[Mate2237]

Bitcoin has really come a long way. Looking back at how Bitcoin has pass through to were it is today Bitcoin has really undergo alot of changes . Because when Bitcoin started not much people gave that attention to it because to them it did not make any sense to how something online can actually become a digital currency or asset that will willed such power that it will define and direct how the world financial system will be.

Seventeen years is such a short time but Bitcoin has already become a success story. Satoshi will be very happy because what he has in mind and put in payment has become a reality that even nations are buying into the idea. This is seventeen years of success and Revolution that bitcoin has brought to the world and it's quite visible.

[IceLincoln]

Yes bitcoin have really come a long way, what looked like a fairytale or scam is now a great store of Value and is still breaking barriers, growing and evolving. In 17 years it has grown from $0-$126K, it’ll be a matter of time before it breaks $126K. If you’re just getting to know about this you can get onboard the train before we move to $130K and beyond. Now is a good time to buy and accumulate as much as you can cause bitcoin is gonna break more bounds in the future, don’t get left behind Newbies!!.

[Donk1]

Bitcoin as we know has gone through a lot of challenges, like the early collapses of Mt.Gox and FTX Yet we all are aware that there is nothing that can stop its potential to move forward. That said I believe that right now as we speak many people are now seeing bitcoin as a digital gold that has a limited supply ,only 21 million BTC will ever exist. Most especially because of the recent halving event in 2024, all this is what makes many people believe in its value and continue to buy and hold for the long term and as time goes, Bitcoin being a revolutionary technology, there is no doubt that it will continue to evolve and bring out new potential. That's just it.