Bitcoin Is 17 years Old. What surprises you most?

[wapwapwendy]

Bitcoin has been around for 17 years now.

Looking back, what part of Bitcoin’s journey has surprised you the most?

And what do you think someone from 2010 would find hardest to believe about Bitcoin today?

Maybe the price, institutional adoption, countries holding it, the size of the mining industry, or simply how long Bitcoin has survived.

What would you have found hardest to believe back then?

[Donneski]

Bitcoin came and defiled whatever law that states that money must be controlled by a central authority. It started as a project that many people thought will not survive but it managed to remain relevant despite all the times people have declared it dead, that's the biggest surprise for me. 17 years ago, over 90% of people who first heard about Bitcoin I doubt would've imagined that we'll still be having a debate about it today and not just that, but would never imagine that governments, institutions and major companies will take it serious today.

Almost everything about Bitcoin is surprising but I think the longevity is the most impressive part.

[Rockstarguy]

In the past 10 years, it has not been easy: terrible hate talk about Bitcoin, constant threats from the government, many restrictions, a severe bear market, and attacks (collapse of exchanges). But overall, Bitcoin is doing very well.

The price of Bitcoin is not what even surprises me; my biggest surprise today is that the governments that tried to stop Bitcoin are buying huge amounts of Bitcoin, and as of today, the mining industry has become a global competition.

[aoluain]

and almost 18 years!

For me its hard to look back and be surprised at any part of Bitcoins journey because its so
everyday normal  to me.

Quickly thinking some might say its surprising that Satoshi left all those Bitcoin untouched
for example, but to me it's just something Satoshi did for the community, cementing home
the idea that he* truly created Bitcoin for the betterment of us all and it wasnt a money grab.

There are many other events in the last 17+ years but I see them as peripheral to Bitcoin itself,
Laszlo's Pizza, MtGox for example.

Bitcoin reaching and passing $100,000 would have been pure fantasy to everyone ^{probably
with the exception of those who are still here HODL'ing since 2010, 2011 and 2012}

Hardest to believe back then, or back when I was first introduced to Bitcoin in 2014/2015? $100k

[Faisal2202]

Bitcoin has been around for 17 years now.

Looking back, what part of Bitcoin’s journey has surprised you the most?

And what do you think someone from 2010 would find hardest to believe about Bitcoin today?

Maybe the price, institutional adoption, countries holding it, the size of the mining industry, or simply how long Bitcoin has survived.

What would you have found hardest to believe back then?

I am not that old. I heard about BTC in 2018 first but left because I did not care much about it, then joined the forum in 2021, and since then I have been learning about it. So it is hard to tell what a person from the early days would say about BTC. But I think it can be attributed to institutional adoption because, from what I have read, governments hated it back then. They said it was used for bad money, and, as a matter of fact, even in 2021 I saw these sentiments. But after the ETF approval, things changed a lot. I can see the change in the sentiments. Maybe a new person joining after 2024 might not sense it, but people who were here before could tell.

So it can be institutional adoption. When I joined the industry, my focus was mainly on metaverse projects. I used to think in a way that these realities would increase adoption because I also used to game, and I thought BTC has a bright future due to its decentralized and digital nature. Later, I came to realize more things once the Metaverse narrative died, because it died but BTC stayed, so it was one point for me to believe, not the hardest one. Also, I never thought governments would adopt Bitcoin.

The next hardest point for me to believe will be the acceptance of mixers and the privacy, by governments, although Matic has already introduced one for institutional investors. (Not advertising)

[tiCeR]

Bitcoin has been around for 17 years now.

...

What would you have found hardest to believe back then?

That there are so many people who talk as if bitcoin hasn't achieved anything, literally feel disappointed and believe that its role in the global economy should have been much bigger by now.

It still amazes me because realistically speaking, when a new asset enters the world and people complain that it isn't the global reserve currency yet, what's wrong with them? Institutions move so slowly, fundamental changes like the transition to the euro saw so much resistance, I think bitcoin has achieved tremendous success given that it is a clearly intangible asset, which requires effort from people to not only trust it blindly, but get an understanding about it.

I still know so many people who don't trust it despite being well educated, coming from the financial sector and yet they haven't educated themselves about it to the degree that they can understand why it is here to stay. You have the skeptics on the one hand after 17 years, and you have those who think it should have already conquered the entire world. Both surprises me.

Back then I think seeing prices above $100k so quickly was not easily conceivable regardless of whether you believed in the technology or not. Every time I see this list with the most valuable companies / assets, bitcoin entering the top ten after literally no time was hard to believe.

[Donk1]

Well back then when Bitcoin was at its early stage, it faced a lot of criticism that made many people not believe in it. And after all that criticism those who criticized the asset the most are the ones who have massive investments in it now. The fun fact is that with all the innovations of Bitcoin till now its core rules like the fixed supply cap limited to only 21 million, its decentralization, and the fact that nobody knows who Satoshi Nakamoto really is ,show us how trustworthy the asset is. While I believe there are a lot of things that make Bitcoin valuable to me, the only shocking thing about Bitcoin is how its mysteries and its core protocols since 2010 have remained without ever getting compromised or changed in any way. That's all......

[Obim34]

Bitcoin has been around for 17 years now.

Looking back, what part of Bitcoin’s journey has surprised you the most?

And what do you think someone from 2010 would find hardest to believe about Bitcoin today?

It's hard to succeed with a new invention without having people hate on what you build. Satoshi created Bitcoin, and most people despised Bitcoin, It's been up to a decade, 17-18 years, and Bitcoin was worth a few cents before is currently worth $126K as of the last ATH.

Not many people believed Bitcoin to be a growing assets, they didn't believe it would reach this milestone. Someone from 2010 who rejected buying Bitcoin will be going through the deepest phase of regrets today for refusing the opportunity.

What about now, with a similar opportunity to buy Bitcoin, most people are quite hesitant, of course, they will regret not buying, just as of 17 years ago.

[Stepstowealth]

Bitcoin has been around for 17 years now.

Looking back, what part of Bitcoin’s journey has surprised you the most?

I am still very much surprised that even with the 17 year history that Bitcoin has that there are still people who still consider it as a scam because they think that it is something that has just been around year or even lesser than.
I know that by the time Bitcoin gets to 20 years in history there will still be people who still think of it as scam and sometimes all of these people not that they do not know the truth it's just that they completely want to ignore it just so that they can continue to have a point to criticize Bitcoin from. The age of bitcoin should attest for its credibility and give investors more confidence that they are not making a mistake with deciding to keep holding.

[PrivacyG]

I am surprised the long and pretty tough anti Bitcoin campaign did not work.  These things usually do work and pull people out of things, ideas, investments, but Bitcoin still had a lot of people finding interest even with all the B S splattered all over it every year, every Bull Run, every Bear Run, every Halving, it felt like almost every day.

The large Mining Farms are not too surprising and I doubt they would be surprising for a 2010 Bitcoiner, considering there already were many nerds trying to compete with multiple computers.  It would be VERY surprising however if you told a 2010 Bitcoiner that one Bitcoin would be worth as much as 100,000 Dollars.  They would also be surprised to hear about BILLION Dollar scams and Exchange hacks.  Bitcoin was definitely not imagined this big at the time, maybe except 'delusional' Satoshi who did think this was a possibility.

[goldkingcoiner]

I am surprised the long and pretty tough anti Bitcoin campaign did not work.  These things usually do work and pull people out of things, ideas, investments, but Bitcoin still had a lot of people finding interest even with all the B S splattered all over it every year, every Bull Run, every Bear Run, every Halving, it felt like almost every day.

The large Mining Farms are not too surprising and I doubt they would be surprising for a 2010 Bitcoiner, considering there already were many nerds trying to compete with multiple computers.  It would be VERY surprising however if you told a 2010 Bitcoiner that one Bitcoin would be worth as much as 100,000 Dollars.  They would also be surprised to hear about BILLION Dollar scams and Exchange hacks.  Bitcoin was definitely not imagined this big at the time, maybe except 'delusional' Satoshi who did think this was a possibility.

I am glad all the Anti-Bitcoin hate did not have an effect on Bitcoin. But China certainly did, almost a decade back.

Maybe the reason for it not having an effect is that Bitcoin is open to the public and 100% transparent on how it works. Anyone who wants to can read the code and check the truth for themselves. All the Anti-Bitcoin FUD was lies or speculative.

Whales love manipulating the market. I would not trust FUD nor FOMO coming from anything they say or do. Many rich institutional investors love to be bearish during dumps just to push the price lower and make more people sell.

[Dreadboost]

Bitcoin is going to turn 18 years old in a few months. Prior to its existence, nothing surprised me. From the start of 2023, I've always known Bitcoin does not need external help to be the way it is. It will exist until the day the owner of Bitcoin is known. Nothing is stopping Bitcoin from growing to the price May has predicted it will reach. Some want Bitcoin to reach $1M soon. Some want it to reach $5M. It is possible for Bitcoin to get to that price. May take long but, it will surely come. The ongoing progression of Bitcoin's price is no surprise to those who have been following Bitcoin for 10 years.

[Josefjix]

I'm still surprised that not everyone had known Bitcoin upon the number of years it had stayed, many in the world doesn't know what Bitcoin is and had never heard of it, I am still surprised.

Despite the chaos, governmental ban, crashes in price and other negative and positive news around Bitcoin, many doesn't and haven't heard of Bitcoin, I did research where I am currently living, some people don't know about it.

I think Bitcoin still has lots of work to do, lots of outreach to the mainstream to accomplish, it's not done yet.

[Cryptomultiplier]

From my perspective, Bitcoin has been revolutionary in the global macroeconomics that makes it a hybrid alternative to the fiat of any country.
It has brought about financial soverignty and holds a place among reserve assets like gold making it more valuable than when it was first introduced.

Do I need to talk about the jobs it has created or the innovations that has risen from its success like alternative sources of energy for its mining operations and even the cushioning of AI introduction and inclusivity, because with the growth and evolution of Bitcoin, more eyes became open to the possibilities of other technologies that is gaining ground today and that's a fact.

[Taricoins]

I'm still surprised that not everyone had known Bitcoin upon the number of years it had stayed, many in the world doesn't know what Bitcoin is and had never heard of it, I am still surprised.

Despite the chaos, governmental ban, crashes in price and other negative and positive news around Bitcoin, many doesn't and haven't heard of Bitcoin, I did research where I am currently living, some people don't know about it.

I think Bitcoin still has lots of work to do, lots of outreach to the mainstream to accomplish, it's not done yet.

One of the few things I would be surprised about is actually that not everyone has Bitcoin, I mean not everyone actually see it as a good innovation as me and you so it's normal. Humans tend to always take a negative approach towards good things, so I believe this will be the case with Bitcoin and many other good innovations.

Some people have tied Bitcoin to being a fraudulent coin that scammers use, which is totally the wrong narrative and this alone will take some part of the many people that still haven't chosen Bitcoin.

[Sobz]

I'm still surprised that not everyone had known Bitcoin upon the number of years it had stayed, many in the world doesn't know what Bitcoin is and had never heard of it, I am still surprised.

Despite the chaos, governmental ban, crashes in price and other negative and positive news around Bitcoin, many doesn't and haven't heard of Bitcoin, I did research where I am currently living, some people don't know about it.

I think Bitcoin still has lots of work to do, lots of outreach to the mainstream to accomplish, it's not done yet.

I believe this can be people from the rural environment and those who dont have access to devices,  computer illiterates and those who are not on the social media space. So far as there are people who dont have access to all that have mentioned i believe their are some people who haven't heard about bitcoin and i am not surprised about that because you can only know bitcoin when you become digital and you are use to the internet space.  Bitcoin has done so much work for people to be aware of it and it has really increased in adoption over the years. I think people needs to work on their self to know about bitcoin.

[fredericktaylor]

I am still very much surprised that even with the 17 year history that Bitcoin has that there are still people who still consider it as a scam because they think that it is something that has just been around year or even lesser than.
I know that by the time Bitcoin gets to 20 years in history there will still be people who still think of it as scam and sometimes all of these people not that they do not know the truth it's just that they completely want to ignore it just so that they can continue to have a point to criticize Bitcoin from. The age of bitcoin should attest for its credibility and give investors more confidence that they are not making a mistake with deciding to keep holding.

There are some people who have criticized Bitcoin since its inception, their thoughts on Bitcoin have not changed and will never change in the future. Those who criticized Bitcoin in the past are now seeing the spread, acceptance, trust, and price increase of Bitcoin, and all these things have been able to prove those people's criticisms completely wrong. There are some people who, despite truly seeing the benefits or acceptability of Bitcoin, still think that Bitcoin is a scam. They are wearing wooden glasses. They have not been able to change their thoughts yet and their thoughts on Bitcoin will never change in the future.

Anyway, there will always be some people like that, it is very natural, they will never be able to have any impact on the acceptance and trust in Bitcoin. The price of Bitcoin is gradually increasing, the trust and acceptance of the general public is increasing and in the future the arab will increase and Bitcoin will reach the highest above of all time ATH They will see and regret it.

[ColdLava40]

What would you have found hardest to believe back then?

Growth and adoption would have been the last thing many people thought would happen to BTC years ago.

It’s similar to how many people hear about an investment opportunity today and the first thing that comes to mind is that it’s probably a scam.

Back then, many people didn’t understand the idea behind Bitcoin or questioned how legitimate it could be because it wasn’t backed by any government.

I believe those same people would be surprised to see how much Bitcoin has grown today. Adoption is no longer happening only at the individual level. It has moved into the institutional level, and now even governments are looking for ways to get their hands on Bitcoin.

[batang_bitcoin]

Bitcoin has been around for 17 years now.

Looking back, what part of Bitcoin’s journey has surprised you the most?

And what do you think someone from 2010 would find hardest to believe about Bitcoin today?

Maybe the price, institutional adoption, countries holding it, the size of the mining industry, or simply how long Bitcoin has survived.

What would you have found hardest to believe back then?

Reaching $100k when it was a few cents when it was priced in. I think that's one of the hardest to believe with what's happening right now. Going back to that time, it's full of doubt and uncertainty but that has become the foundation of bitcoin and why the adoption has increased. The investors became part of its growth and as a community has the same goal and belief on how it will become in the future. So for me, that's the hardest to believe right now when it has passed $126k to be specific as its last ATH if we would go back to 2010 when the price was like a giveaway back then.

[I_Anime]

In the past 10 years, it has not been easy: terrible hate talk about Bitcoin, constant threats from the government, many restrictions, a severe bear market, and attacks (collapse of exchanges). But overall, Bitcoin is doing very well.

The price of Bitcoin is not what even surprises me; my biggest surprise today is that the governments that tried to stop Bitcoin are buying huge amounts of Bitcoin, and as of today, the mining industry has become a global competition.

They have seen the potential of bitcoin , you can see that regardless all the hate talk about bitcoin , many restrictions, and threats from the government, like you mentioned. Bitcoin is still booming and what we are seeing now is just the beginning, those that doubt bitcoin now will surely make the statement most of us here did , which is “had I known” I would have started my bitcoin investment or involvement way earlier than they way I did .