Today the Bitcoin white paper has turned 13 years since its first appearance in a publication on the Metzdow platform. This cryptocurrency has reached its 13th birthday at a time of a global pandemic, inflationary processes, a frenzy for “memecoins” and a growing institutional adoption of cryptocurrencies.
On Friday, October 31, 2008, “Satoshi Nakamoto” published the Bitcoin white paper on the Metzdow platform. The place where the publication was hosted was run by a group of computer geeks and was full of ideas aimed at creating a digital currency that was fully decentralized.
The Bitcoin white paper was published under the title “Bitcoin P2P e-cash paper.” In it, Nakamoto explained that its digital currency is fully peer-to-peer (P2P), and does not require a third party for a transaction to take place. Through a peer-to-peer network, Bitcoin solved the problem of double spending. In addition, Bitcoin also allowed network participants to remain anonymous safely, through the use of a proof-of-work (PoW) consensus algorithm.
At the time, the white paper was not received positively. And only a few users saw and were interested in Nakamoto’s post.
As of today, Bitcoin is the number 1 cryptocurrency on the market. It has a price of $60,900 at this time. In addition, a market capitalization of almost $1.3 trillion and a global adoption that grows day after day.
The first steps of Bitcoin on the Internet
After the white paper was published, interest around the digital asset began to grow. In this way, the Bitcoin network was launched in early 2009. At that time, Hal Finney, a tech-savvy netizen who worked with the PGP Corporation developing encryption products, was already involved in the Bitcoin project.
Hal Finney is popularly known in the cryptocurrency space for being a participant in the first Bitcoins transaction. And also, for being the first person, after Nakamoto, to run a copy of the network through a node.
Hal Finney, tragically passed away in 2014, due to complications from suffering from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. However, his body was cryopreserved by the “Alcor Life Extension” Foundation.
Finney also described his work with Satoshi in a post posted on the “Bitcointalk” forum. One year after the first experimental BTC transaction, in 2010, the first commercial Bitcoins transaction would occur.
A developer paid 10,000 BTC for two pizzas
On May 18, 2010, developer Laszlo Hanyecz created a post in the forum “Bitcointalk” offering 10,000 BTC for two pizzas. Hanyecz offered to pay another forum member for Bitcoins if they could get him two large pizzas, which could even be made at home.
The post was met with a lot of skepticism, as 10,000 BTC at the time was not worth what two pizzas cost, the BTC was worth much less. However, on May 22, Hanyecz reported that he had successfully exchanged “10,000 Bitcoins for two pizzas.”
At that time, despite the low value of Bitcoin and the small size of its community, one user noted that this event achieved a “great milestone.” That day is known within the cryptocurrency community as “Bitcoin Pizza Day.” Currently, this transaction would amount to a payment of $600 million for two pizzas.
Bitcoin’s first commercial transaction led to the creation of a global ecosystem that is now worth more than $1.3 trillion. For the first time that day, Bitcoin was used as a true digital exchange asset.
Bitcoin is a billion dollar industry today
Since the first commercial transaction of Bitcoin, the value of this digital asset has not always been clear. This cryptocurrency has suffered significant price drops in history and has been declared “bankrupt” dozens of times by the various media and market analysts. However, the current market capitalization of Bitcoin is now over $ 1.3 trillion, according to CoinMarketCap. Positioning it as the most traded “digital asset” in the history of the world economy.
The rise of Bitcoin has benefited from a global industry full of technological innovations, which has already seen cryptocurrency exchanges go public. Recognizing that Bitcoin could be used to hedge against global inflation.
One of the earliest Bitcoins holders, Greg Schoen, posted a fairly popular tweet in May 2011. In which he expressed his regret for having sold 1,700 BTC at $0.30, after having bought them when the cryptocurrency was trading at $ 0.06, since he could have sold his BTC at $8 each. Those 1,700 BTC would be worth more than $ 104 million dollars right now.
Likewise, El Salvador became the first country in the world to adopt Bitcoin as legal tender, through the official entry of the Bitcoin Law, on September 7 of this year. Salvadorans can use the cryptocurrency through a government wallet called “Chivo.”
Bitcoin is just starting its way
In October, the first Bitcoin exchange-traded investment fund (ETF) was launched in the United States. Launched by ProShares Bitcoin Strategy, it began trading under the ticker “BITO” on the New York Stock Exchange. During its debut it became the second most traded investment fund in the history of the market.
According to Ron Levy, the CEO and co-founder of the blockchain consultancy «The Crypto Company». He claimed that the Bitcoin white paper “laid the foundation for what would become a decentralized industry beyond what anyone thought possible.”
“The next step for digital assets is clear laws and regulations around what can and cannot be done with cryptocurrencies.” Levy added, since all new technological advances are faced with resistance from already established economic mechanisms.
“Humanity has only begun to scratch the surface of what Bitcoin and Blockchain technologies are capable of. So much so, that the developments we have today seem to have been thought of by the creator of Bitcoin, Satoshi Nakamoto. Said Miha Grčar, the global trading developer of cryptocurrency exchange Kraken.
The Bitcoin white paper has made the idea of a decentralized network viable, initially proposed in a document of only nine pages has been able to change the world completely. Although it is not clear if more countries want to adopt Bitcoin as legal tender or if interest in Bitcoin ETFs will decline, it is clear that Bitcoin is here to stay and become the future of digital finance.
