Bitcoin Evolution

[Upgrade00]

Bitcoin has evolved on different frontiers over the years; project development, value, public opinion, government interest, and of course there's the nay sayers constantly puzzled while it's still existing and always predicting it's end.

Early days (2009 - 2010)
Bitcoin did not always receive this attention, it was launched in January of 2009, by Satoshi Nakamoto  few months after the domain name bitcointalk.org was registered. Most of its users then we're tech inclined individuals some who did it for fun as a hobby


Bitcoin had it's first ROI in mid 2010 as it gained parity with the USD. After then it experienced a steady rise in users and the community started to grow. The first major setback came in August  2010 when an error in the system which allows users bypass economic restrictions was exploited and 184 bitcoins was generated.

This was also the year were Satoshi stepped down for the reins and faded into obscurity, apparently handing over to Graven Anderson who was the lead technological expert

Notwithstanding, popularity and confidence continued to grow and agencies started accepting bitcoin as donations, merchants started to slaowly wake up to it and some companies even offered her workers the option to take home a part of their salary in bitcoin.

2011 - 2013
In the price front, bitcoin grew exponentially during this time and also dropped as rapidly.
It reached $31 in 2011 dropping to $2 at the end of the year.
2012 was a slow year.
Then there's was a split in bitcoin transaction log during early 2013 and for a few hours, there were two bitcoin networks operating simultaneously.
This sparked off a very volatile year for bitcoin peaking at $1242 but also dropping  very suddenly. It was basically a pump and dump scheme during this time.
In the area of adoption there was steady growth during this time. Coinbase recorded selling $1million worth of bitcoin in a single month in 2013 and the open source code allowed organizations and platforms to freely use the system.

Mid Time (2014 - 2016)

This period was also met with even greater adoption as more outlets, merchants, companies, agencies and by now governments were getting actively involved in bitcoin.
It was no longer viewed as a pump and dump scheme but a valid investment option and an asset class.
Price movements were slow with reduced volatility compared to previous years (although still high) ranging from $200 - $800 during the time.
Now in addition to tech gurus, investors, traders, and individuals were getting interested.
Documentaries based on bitcoin were also released during this time.

2017;

Bitcoins legitimacy continued to grow and it gained credence, adoption also continued to grow rapidly with interest from all corners, academic and legislative. Governments were getting more actively involved as well.
And in March, it eclipsed the then peak set at 2013 ($1242) and this set of a massive surge which saw a new peak of $17900 set in Nov of 2017, which remains the current peak till today.
This was also the year of ICOs as bitcoins rise encouraged and supported similar rise in other digital currencies. This was the year bitcoin announces itself again to the world. And the issue of scalability became more prominent  as the protocol was struggling to cope with increased usage.
In 2017 BCH, BitcoinCash was forked out of bitcoin and this increased a single blocksize to 8MB. We have had other forms since then.

In between all these were important but too numerous to mention all, there was the costliest pizzas ever bought also the whale who was 'schooled' when he/she tried to manipulate and drop the price, and also reports of hacks with millions of dollars worth of bitcoin stolen.

2018 so far;
This year has been my favorite crypto year (my only year actually as I joined late) and it has had the most stability and it's support level has held off higher than any other year.
Some would argue that it has been a bearish year, especially when compared with.2017, but it has also renewed interest on the product and not just the profit.

What do you think the future holds...

[Nnuego]

Bitcoin has sure come a very long way in is ten year existence. And some who joined in the latter years may think they have missed the train, but I believe that the next years would be the best years.

[Ispep]

2018 so far;
This year has been my favorite crypto year (my only year actually as I joined late) and it has had the most stability and it's support level has held off higher than any other year.

This year has been the year of a particular menace called ICO, with the ever increasing proliferation of ICO projects,the market is kinda looking like a dumping ground(most of this ICO's don't even meet their soft cap), everyone is looking to get rich quickly through this means, neglecting the due process and patience required,80% of such projects have been a scam, and the year isnt over just yet.. Bitcoin still remains king amidst all this though

[Pursuer]

2018 so far;
This year has been my favorite crypto year (my only year actually as I joined late) and it has had the most stability and it's support level has held off higher than any other year.

This year has been the year of a particular menace called ICO, with the ever increasing proliferation of ICO projects,the market is kinda looking like a dumping ground(most of this ICO's don't even meet their soft cap), everyone is looking to get rich quickly through this means, neglecting the due process and patience required,80% of such projects have been a scam, and the year isnt over just yet.. Bitcoin still remains king amidst all this though

the situation with ICOs has not changed at all. from the first ICO to this day they are all bad and majority of them are obvious scams while the rest are non-obvious scams. that is why they have been getting dumped because this way of creating a new token has never meant to be used for long. it was a temporary fever in the market and the pumpers got the best out of it. now the time is up.

[mulukey]

bitcoin has spent a long time developing, blocking the road for nearly 10 years it has reached more attention to the world. I think in the future Bitcoin will grow further, to cater to the needs of each business, each individual organization. I thought I had known Bitcoin quite late but I will try to learn more about them to learn to achieve what I had expected. If future Bitcoin misused the Bitcoin developers will find a way to overcome shortcomings extinguished as soon as it prepared to develop. Let's look now good things in the future.

[ovcijisir]

You haven't mentioned Lightning network...

It can potentionally revolutionize Bitcoin transactions and cut down transaction fees and enhance decentralization.

[Dilerium90]

Bitcoin halving is just around the corner and then, I think, we will see another milestone in the development of this cryptocurrency. In my opinion, after halving, the price of bitcoin will rush to the new heights.

[mandor]

until now the development of Bitcoin is getting better that's it has proven that in the future Bitcoin will be increasingly popular in the eyes of the world. Bitcoin has evolved into an asset and part of people's lives because this digital currency is very useful for making good profits in the future.

[franky1]

You haven't mentioned Lightning network...

It can potentionally revolutionize Bitcoin transactions and cut down transaction fees and enhance decentralization.

lightning network is not a bitcoin feature.
its a separate work for ANY COIN to use
people can link any altcoins chainhash to lightning and do offchain transactions with others who are also wanting to play with that coin.

its only currently talked about in regards to bitcoin because just mentioning bitcoin and something else in the same sentance gives that something else instant fame.
remember bitcoin had to change to be LN compatible. not LN was designed to be bitcoin compatible... that alone along with the chainhash required code shows LN is its own network.
and lastly LN is not a blockchain. LN is not peer to peer. LN is not a push network LN needs the users to be online to accept/route payment(you cant just send funds to anyone anytime)

LN is simply a separate service network that could be used for convenience by any coin. and is not a feature that bitcoin requires. so dont over promote LN as a needed solution for bitcoin because that just warps peoples minds into thinking that bitcoin just doesnt work/is broke and needs these separate networks. by saying bitcoin is broke and needs a separate network is foolish. and thats why many people want BITCOIN evolution and not other network evolution and takeovers

[franky1]

2011 - 2013
This sparked off a very volatile year for bitcoin peaking at $1242 but also dropping  very suddenly. It was basically a pump and dump scheme during this time.

the october(2013) jump in price
the october(2013) release of the first asics..
not a coincidence

when hobby GPU miners realise they cant profit from mining because asics takeover. 2 things happen
1. hobby GPU miners stop buying GPU and electric to get btc. and instead just buy btc.
2. asic miners realise the costs of mining increase so refuse to sell so cheap

then speculators see a jump and FOMO to over-jump the value. (value =moon fomospeculation=mars)

[Zrs]

From the history of bitcoin, we can see that there was a lot of ups and downs in bitcoin price.I believe that 2019 will be bitcoin year and  I still holding bitcoin for a huge pump.So just hold and hope.

[Upgrade00]

You haven't mentioned Lightning network...

It can potentionally revolutionize Bitcoin transactions and cut down transaction fees and enhance decentralization.

Nice suggestion. I don't know so much about it and just started digging deeper. Need lots of getting around. Here's a link for anyone interested, https://lightning.network

2011 - 2013
This sparked off a very volatile year for bitcoin peaking at $1242 but also dropping  very suddenly. It was basically a pump and dump scheme during this time.

the october(2013) jump in price
the october(2013) release of the first asics..
not a coincidence

when hobby GPU miners realise they cant profit from mining because asics takeover. 2 things happen
1. hobby GPU miners stop buying GPU and electric to get btc. and instead just buy btc.
2. asic miners realise the costs of mining increase so refuse to sell so cheap

then speculators see a jump and FOMO to over-jump the value. (value =moon fomospeculation=mars)

Unlikely to be a coincidence. At the time there were many factors influencing price pump and drop.

[ss890]

I would say legislation point is far critical these days. At the beginning there was no one who ever thought that they will need to regulate the crypto to overcome the worst situation. With this I am referring to the situation where crypto is being used for the corruption purposes, investing black money, doing money laundering, drugs and black market trades etc.
Bitcoin has given big platform for the later mentioned stuff and its true as we have already seen many news about it.
I guess this is why legislations are now taking heads up and are being talk about in each and every country.

Initially there was no need of that because bitcoin was known to limited people, many of them though it wont even last for couple of years but it did and many more things are now changed because of that.

[franky1]

From the history of bitcoin, we can see that there was a lot of ups and downs in bitcoin price.I believe that 2019 will be bitcoin year and  I still holding bitcoin for a huge pump.So just hold and hope.

try not to look at ATH. look for the yearly bottom
dont surf at the tip of a tsunami alone where only 0.1% of traders got to experience personally.
stand at sea water level looking up, where everyone gets to experience, and notice all the waves and water level corrections after temporary events..... its much healthier for you

2016 always above $300
2017 always above $900
2018 always above $5800 

[tadpole_bitfrog]

Bitcoin's future is good and there is no doubt about that. Blockchain technology is really an evolution of money transfer and that is essential for large businesses around the world. We have seen recent signs that large businesses such as BMW, Mercedes and some stores have accepted Bitcoin payments. In just two years, everything will be fine again.

[boyshx]

What we are saying here is not that much true! Its not really an evolution of the bitcoin but just some changes and upgrades that are made to bitcoin over the time. An evolution would be complete transfer of technology from one form to another with heavily modified features of the bitcoin and also its use in day to day life. I see nothing has changed since then except the fact that it has grown in its volume and prices. Now thats not an evolution but just the demand and supply algorithm playing around the gravity. It is fixed that over the time demand will rise and supply will go down to create that momentum.
Anyways, nice write up though.

[franky1]

Unlikely to be a coincidence. At the time there were many factors influencing price pump and drop.

the spark of the match was asics. but how big the flame of the 2013 ATH was as you said due to a few speculative factors that over priced it. which is why it corrected dow nonce the flame blew out

[enhu]

I was one of those fortunate who received about 50 BTC during the 2013 craze as part of my participation to work for someone to create faucets. They were making money out of it. I thought it will not drop but eventually did. I kept mine which price was $200. There were so much technical users here, debating about where the development should go but seem to be lesser these days.

[xvacator]

I was one of those fortunate who received about 50 BTC during the 2013 craze as part of my participation to work for someone to create faucets. They were making money out of it. I thought it will not drop but eventually did. I kept mine which price was $200. There were so much technical users here, debating about where the development should go but seem to be lesser these days.

So if you still hold bitcoin until the last year, I am sure that right now, you are a rich person in your town because you have 50 btc from 2013. Yes, I think bitcoin is evolve from time to time and now, we can see it's impact to the price which will increase more and more in the future. So we can buy more bitcoin again if we believe in bitcoin.

[PsylockReborn]

Hope that this evolution will lead to success specially there are some issues when it comes to its scalability. As adoption rises we are also nearing to face those issues. Hope there's a remedy for those issues in the near future or we will just cross the bridge when we reach there. I know that it will still took years to face those issues depending on the demand and adoption of the society.