Bitcoin Is 17 years Old. What surprises you most?

[free-bit.co.in]

If you want to have Bitcoin adoption, you can't win by fighting the government. Look around the privacy coins, the government made sure they are delisted from exchanges. Now, imagine the way Bitcoin has always been the way the narration used to be pushed then, not sure if Bitcoin will survive the heat. There was no reason to be anti government in the first place, it wouldn't be healthy for institutions that is why they formed the relationship in the first place at the same time it's to protect their investment.

Government control pretty much everything in this world, from resources to the economy, and Bitcoin is only a small part of that system. And it's not just privacy coins. Remember all those mixing services too?

They might not be able to completely ban or kill Bitcoin. But don't expect Bitcoin to become mainstream and grow that big without their approval and support.

This is something a lot of people still don't understand.

[AprilioMP]

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?

While many countries around the world now recognize the greatness of the Bitcoin system, initially many were very skeptical of it. As proof, Bitcoin is now being promoted as a national reserve asset in many countries.
Price has become a common topic, even though people are driven by Bitcoin’s price. Beyond its price, Bitcoin is no longer viewed merely as a digital currency but as a valuable asset offering the best hedge. That’s all there is to it, and I won’t go into further detail because the world is already familiar with Bitcoin.

[d5000]

If I look back to ~2017 or so and what I thought could happen with Bitcoin back then, the price is not what most surprised me (in fact, in 2017 we almost saw 20k - not that far away from the current price).

Instead, it's mainly two things:

First, that its first layer still is the most used. In 2017 I thought on-chain transactions would collapse in 2-3 years and everybody and their grandma would flee either to Layer-2s like Lightning or directly to altcoins. This is of course not necessarily good news: people still hold many coins on exchanges, and retail adoption could be better. Institutional adoption is not something I'm surprised about, it was logical given the popularity Bitcoin had already reached in 2017, but the attention ETFs and similar products, and of course Saylor, are getting in the community, is something I wouldn't have predicted.

Second, that no altcoin came even close to Bitcoin's popularity. In 2017 Ethereum reached half of Bitcoin's market cap in one occasion, and BCH was also close to that mark for a short period. That looks like a very distant past now, with Bitcoin constantly over 50% dominance. And I was among those dumb folks who thought that some altcoins were "better than Bitcoin" back then. How wrong I was

[Out of mind]

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?

17 years ago, it was very difficult to convince people that Bitcoin was a long-term asset. At that time, people did not believe that after 17 years, a huge mining industry would be created around the world, and Bitcoin would become so popular. However, the biggest thing for me is that the survival of this Bitcoin network for such a long time was the most surprising thing. It was the biggest challenge for people not to believe it. In 2010, these things about Bitcoin were one of the biggest challenges for people to believe. No one believed that it would survive for such a long time and its value would increase so much. However, what we can see now is that the popularity of Bitcoin has now become very easy for people to believe. People can easily understand and assume that it is a long-term asset. Moreover, the changes in the market price of Bitcoin and its transactions, along with the investment in Bitcoin by various big companies and countries, have made people more confident.  We know that Bitcoin's popularity and demand will continue to grow. Bitcoin is a networking system that will give people financial freedom and improve their finances in the future.

[Clearnet]

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

Big investor's attracting while still general people not using it most.

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

Why did I not buy back then?

What would you have found hardest to believe back then?

This is just a load of crap, a PC sitting around and generating money.

[intrader]

Definitely the price. I remember when Bitcoin was just a few hundred bucks. Seeing it today is crazy—I really didn't expect it.

[Abiky]

Government control pretty much everything in this world, from resources to the economy, and Bitcoin is only a small part of that system. And it's not just privacy coins. Remember all those mixing services too?

They might not be able to completely ban or kill Bitcoin. But don't expect Bitcoin to become mainstream and grow that big without their approval and support.

This is something a lot of people still don't understand.

I'm surprised to see how far the government has gone to try to limit or control Bitcoin's dominance in the mainstream world. Since they've realized they can't "kill" or "destroy" Bitcoin, they've decided to infiltrate the system by trying to accumulate as much of the circulating supply as possible. Governments are doing this both directly and indirectly (through institutional investment firms, banks, etc).

The core Bitcoin Blockchain might remain decentralized in the long run, but it won't be of any use if centralized forces dictate who buys or sells Bitcoin. They will be the ones holding all of the cards with the supply they hold. Most people don't care about this, so they will continue to carry on with their lives as usual. Here's hoping for the best.

[Crypto Library]

I'm surprised to see how far the government has gone to try to limit or control Bitcoin's dominance in the mainstream world. Since they've realized they can't "kill" or "destroy" Bitcoin, they've decided to infiltrate the system by trying to accumulate as much of the circulating supply as possible. Governments are doing this both directly and indirectly (through institutional investment firms, banks, etc).

I've actually been in the Bitcoin space for a few years now, but even then, I was actually surprised by Bitcoin's 17-year record. In the last bull season, Bitcoin was able to reach ATH $69k and new ATH at $73.6K before its halving period.
However, the biggest reason for this is that spot ETFs and more institutional investments were in Bitcoin, and later, as your factory, we saw that the alt season didn't run. 
And at the same time, I am currently surprised that where Bitcoin's price should now be around 50K based on previous markets, Bitcoin is slowly moving closer to 90K.

The core Bitcoin Blockchain might remain decentralized in the long run, but it won't be of any use if centralized forces dictate who buys or sells Bitcoin.

Here I would also like to put it in such a way that the Bitcoin market can be manipulated, but this is only in the short term. In the long term, I don't think anyone can survive by holding huge Bitcoins to manipulate the market, because at the end of the day, they will have to sell them.

[o48o]

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?

Freaking everything is unbeliveable. In 2014 everyone who talked about bitcoin going to $10k sounded like crazy people, and it didn't help that many of them were legit crazy.

Saying it would be a $100k was probably someone joking. People holding it a lot that turned out to be famous were these unreal characters, so the very idea of this scene being taken seriously was absurd to me. That was actually what i liked about it. That this was all some weird cyberpunk dystopian monopoly money among few nerds and crazy idealists.

And i would like to say it's has gone far from that, but when president of USA is craziest consipracy nut on the planet, it's quite fitting that he speaks about it as well, even if he doesn't understand it.

[Chinesebaby]

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?

Obviously the current price of Bitcoin is one thing that will surprise people who knew about Bitcoin in 2010 . Because I'm very much sure that nobody in the year bracket would ever had believed that Bitcoin that was worth less a dollar that time would ever be worth over $100,000 per BTC. And secondly, it's current aggressive institutional and individual adoption as a preferred asset for investment for the future is also one thing people in 2010 would never have believed that such will be possible within a space of 10 to 15 of Bitcoin existence as a decentralized digital currency.

[Jubilee58]

Bitcoin has really come a long way. Since 2010 till now, Bitcoin has grown massively in price, and the adoption has increased too. Actually it is very surprising to see Bitcoin where it today, if you new the price of Bitcoin back in 2010, and how it has gained so much interest from individuals, and institutions it is really very surprising. In the past when Bitcoin was only traded in few exchanges, and with institutional interest, many people never believed in Bitcoin potential, and such unbelieve is what many not to invest in Bitcoin, but today many who never believed in the potential of Bitcoin are now interested about Bitcoin as many things has really changed. People who ones doubted if Bitcoin would be sustainable in the future now see , and invest in Bitcoin with clarity.

[Yablee0]

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

Is still a dream to me how Bitcoin was able to hit up this significant height for the past few years despite several declines and challenges that follows. However, Its consistency was pretty amazing, many other alternatives coin that was created around those early days when Bitcoin was also created couldn't withstand till date, many fell at the road side. But Bitcoin stood strong regardless and has even proven beyond reasonable doubt to be the mother of all coin. Indeed It's worth celebrating....

[Tonimez]

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

Is still a dream to me how Bitcoin was able to hit up this significant height for the past few years despite several declines and challenges that follows. However, Its consistency was pretty amazing, many other alternatives coin that was created around those early days when Bitcoin was also created couldn't withstand till date, many fell at the road side. But Bitcoin stood strong regardless and has even proven beyond reasonable doubt to be the mother of all coin. Indeed It's worth celebrating....

What I see as the strength of bitcoin and  the driving force is the belief that some set of bitcoin enthusiast had in bitcoin. It gave bitcoin the strength to fall back after all the challenges. Many coins come and go after just few years but from the look of things, bitcoin has gained acceptance beyond anyone's expectations. I think that the world was getting tired of the government control over money and their unending inflation. Bitcoin was envisaged to be the only way out of inflation and preserving values of labour which is why I think the adoption has continued.

If bitcoin can survive this 17 years when the world wasn't too digital, I think it's enough to say that bitcoin is just starting since the adoption is now rising daily. So in summary, I will say that the world needed a way out of inflation and preserving values for their labour which led to the bitcoin unending adoption.

[Muba20]

Bitcoin has really come a long way. Since 2010 till now, Bitcoin has grown massively in price, and the adoption has increased too. Actually it is very surprising to see Bitcoin where it today, if you new the price of Bitcoin back in 2010, and how it has gained so much interest from individuals, and institutions it is really very surprising. In the past when Bitcoin was only traded in few exchanges, and with institutional interest, many people never believed in Bitcoin potential, and such unbelieve is what many not to invest in Bitcoin, but today many who never believed in the potential of Bitcoin are now interested about Bitcoin as many things has really changed. People who ones doubted if Bitcoin would be sustainable in the future now see , and invest in Bitcoin with clarity.

Those who learned about Bitcoin in 2010 are not only regretting it now, but their regret is increasing as time goes by. Many people did not agree to invest here due to the fear that Bitcoin would be destroyed, but they opposed it by spreading false information about it. Some were skeptical about investing. In 2013, people like Michael Saylor were not positive about Bitcoin, but later in 2020, he accepted Bitcoin after knowing about it well. Those who were skeptical about Bitcoin without knowing about it are now very attracted to it. Currently, Michael Saylor is in the best position among the big investors in Bitcoin. There are also many others who were not positive about Bitcoin in the beginning but they became attracted to it later. People like Larry Fink and Michael Saylor are now the most concerned about Bitcoin. If they had not made that mistake in 2010, they might have become larger holders today. They controlled a large portion of the total supply of Bitcoin.

[Dunamisx]

The most surprising aspect of Bitcoin is no more longer a news to us all, has bitcoin has always been consistent over the years with its value and trusted reputation, you can hold your assets in it and make more profits within a couple of time, bitcoin has never fail us in many ways because we rely on it to be a decentralized digital currency that does not saying so user in it.

[MainIbem]

The most surprising aspect of Bitcoin is no more longer a news to us all, has bitcoin has always been consistent over the years with its value and trusted reputation, you can hold your assets in it and make more profits within a couple of time, bitcoin has never fail us in many ways because we rely on it to be a decentralized digital currency that does not saying so user in it.

Decentralization till date is really suprising, the trust and reputation isn't as suprising as decentralisation cause Bitcoin was built in a way that it would be valuable overtime and make people trust it more as time goes, what suprises me most is that  there's been different hacks but never has the Bitcoin blockchain been hacked. Even with quantum threats that we're yet to know if it would be possible Bitcoins Blockchain seem very secured else maybe the government would've figured a way of taking full control.

[Johnlomape]

The most surprising aspect of Bitcoin is no more longer a news to us all, has bitcoin has always been consistent over the years with its value and trusted reputation, you can hold your assets in it and make more profits within a couple of time, bitcoin has never fail us in many ways because we rely on it to be a decentralized digital currency that does not saying so user in it.

Bitcoin was a project that nobody thought would have this kind of value we are seeing now but time was able to prove many people wrong about their hatred against Bitcoin success and it price. The path Bitcoin took was a gradual one that have shown the own world that Bitcoin is not just an asset, it's a movement that will continue to trend forever.

 We are going to see more movement and adoption as the whole world is looking for opportunity to buy Bitcoin while they make profits. The decentralization of Bitcoin has also increased the adoption that have made investors to choose it over fiat system when making transactions and keeping money while it value appreciate with time.

[DiMarxist]

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

One of the things that surprised me about Bitcoin in its seventeen years of been in existence it's how it's survived all these years because not much people give it a chance when it was launched seventeen years ago. Bitcoin was so worthless that someone used ten thousand Bitcoins just to buy two pizzas, that is just to tell you how the value of Bitcoin was.

It has been seventeen years of growth and development that has survived all these years because not much people give chance to Bitcoin when it comes introduced. Bitcoin survival is a story of surprise to me.

[Zaka1221]

Bitcoin was a project that nobody thought would have this kind of value we are seeing now but time was able to prove many people wrong about their hatred against Bitcoin success and it price. The path Bitcoin took was a gradual one that have shown the own world that Bitcoin is not just an asset, it's a movement that will continue to trend forever.

 We are going to see more movement and adoption as the whole world is looking for opportunity to buy Bitcoin while they make profits. The decentralization of Bitcoin has also increased the adoption that have made investors to choose it over fiat system when making transactions and keeping money while it value appreciate with time.

Adoption is already touching new highs through its awareness because as people are having knowledge and understanding, they are entering and having their share. It's always amazing to be part of this community, which has enough features and stuff for everyone who wants to work through P2P or has the mind to do long-term investment with a good chance of having good profit in the long run.
In early days no one was taking this serious even many big influencers was predicted its going to be burst and have never been good future but now they are also part of this community and enjoying enough because its giving them good financial freedom and ability to fight against inflation which is hurting badly due to fiat which is never been helping in these difficult situations still enough time for having part of this.

[leonair]

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.

Your thoughts are very similar to mine. I was an early user of Bitcoin and had a lot of confidence in Bitcoin, although Bitcoin was very interesting to me at that time. However, it was very difficult to imagine that Bitcoin would have such a value and that the world would be so serious about Bitcoin. But what surprises me the most is that the pattern that it has been moving with since the beginning is still moving in the same pattern. And I completely believe that Bitcoin will be much more expansive in the future, and no matter how well Bitcoin does in the future, it will not surprise me because I have a lot of expectations from Bitcoin now.