Bitcoin Birthday: Bitcoin turns 16: How the cryptocurrency went from zero to a trillion-dollar asset, explained in 10 points

Bitcoin He is now 16 years old. If we were to choose the best-performing assets of the last decade, there is no doubt that Bitcoin would rank first. From being worthless to a market cap of more than $2 trillion, bitcoin has grown massively in the past 16 years, so much so that bitcoin has been the best-performing asset class in the past 11 years, data shows.From being an experiment or fad to becoming a trillion-dollar asset, Bitcoin has reshaped finance and technology since its launch in 2009. As the OG cryptocurrency turns 16, let’s understand the key moments that defined Bitcoin’s journey:

-Satoshi Nakamoto, the name used by the creator(s) of Bitcoin, mined the first Bitcoin block on January 3, 2009. This “genesis” block followed the release of a Bitcoin whitepaper on October 31, 2008, which laid the foundation for the now leading cryptocurrency.

– In 2010, Laszlo Hanyecz bought two pizzas for 10,000 Bitcoins – which today are worth millions of dollars. This day is now celebrated as Bitcoin Pizza DayAs reported by CNBC 18.

A year later, for the first time ever, Bitcoin reached parity with the US dollar, with 1 Bitcoin being worth $1. The Silk Road marketplace has promoted Bitcoin for online transactions, raising regulatory concerns.

The market value of Bitcoin exceeded $1 billion in 2013. In November of the same year, the value of Bitcoin reached $1,000 for the first time, attracting global attention.Read also: Do you know how to calculate the intrinsic value of a stock? Learn from experts in value and valuation lessonsIn 2017, Bitcoin mania took over the market as its price rose to nearly $20,000, marking its first major investment boom. CNBC reported that interest in cryptocurrencies rose globally, but the market quickly corrected.

Entering 2020, the uncertainty brought to the global economy by the COVID-19 pandemic marked another important moment for the cryptocurrency market. Bitcoin is starting to shine like digital gold. As the Federal Reserve printed trillions of dollars to fight the pandemic, many investors turned their attention to Bitcoin, making it a new financial force capable of countering inflation.

-Due to the popularity of Bitcoin, companies like MicroStrategy and Square have begun adding Bitcoin to their corporate reserves. Bitcoin has emerged as a “digital gold” hedge against inflation.

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Bitcoin got a big boost in 2021 when El Salvador became the first country to adopt Bitcoin as legal tender. Bitcoin reached an all-time high of $69,000.

-Bitcoin fell below $20,000 during the crypto winter, due to the collapse of Terra-LUNA and the collapse of the FTX exchange.

-In January 2024, the first American spot Bitcoin ETFs It was approved, opening the doors to institutional investment. In December last year, Bitcoin crossed the $100,000 mark for the first time, driven by ETF optimism and increased institutional interest.