Bitcoin, the largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, was launched on 9 January 2009, but its white paper was given by its creator Satoshi Nakamoto in the mailing list of cryptographers on 31 October. It has been 15 years since it was shared in 2008. In these 15 years, Bitcoin has passed a long way from white paper to becoming the largest cryptocurrency. The cryptocurrency and blockchain technology described in the white paper released by Nakamoto was titled as Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System has since revolutionised our world. This white paper laid a foundation for many technologies like Web3, DeFi, NFT and BRC20 format.
On 31 October, 2008, at exactly 2:10 a.m. Eastern Standard Time, Satoshi Nakamoto shared his Bitcoin white paper on the cryptography mailing list of Metzdowd.com, a messaging platform popular among cyberpunks at the time. On 3 January, 2009, the Bitcoin network went live when Satoshi mined the first block, also known as the genesis block.
After this, the first transaction of Bitcoin took place when programmer Hal Finney got 10 Bitcoins from Nakamoto. As Bitcoin began to gain popularity, the need for a platform where people could exchange the cryptocurrency for fiat currency became necessary. This turned to the creation of various exchanges, including Mt. Gox emerged as the most prominent exchange. After which Mt. Gox is set to be a Bitcoin exchange soon.
The first Bitcoin transaction in the real world occurred on May 22, 2010, a date now known as Bitcoin Pizza Day in the Bitcoin community. When Laszlo Hanyecz paid 10,000 BTC for two Papa Johns pizzas. Since then, Bitcoin has emerged as a digital currency. That has been accepted as a legal tender by many countries and big companies. In this, El Salvador was the first to implement Bitcoin as a legal tender in September 2021.
However, fifteen years have proven that Satoshi Nakamoto's proposal has passed the test of time. Bitcoin is growing once again and the network is arguably stronger than ever due to new adoption by companies like Tesla, PayPal, Apple, and a plethora of Bitcoin spot ETFs. Which is awaited to be approved before the 2024 Bitcoin Halving. Moreover, it has given rise to a massive blockchain and cryptocurrency project industry, promoting full mainstream adoption.
Read Also : Who is Bitcoin Inventor Satoshi Nakamoto? It’s Not Hal
