Bitcoin’s birthday is celebrated on the 3rd of January, although the cryptocurrency’s whitepaper was released on October 28, 2008, by Satoshi Nakamoto. Regardless, Bitcoin has seen some changes since its creation, especially recently. For example, China banned cryptocurrency-related activities last year; it experienced wild volatility and regulatory scrutiny over it increased, and more. Moreover, 2021 marked the start of Bitcoin’s mainstream adoption, including hitting an all-time high in price.
However, critics still argue that Bitcoin is a speculative asset and too risky for investment. Meanwhile, Ethereum is another profitable cryptocurrency whose value and price can be seen at Ethereum price that has seen significant changes. But, let’s not digress; we are here for Bitcoin.
It is hard to believe that Bitcoin was once valued at $0; it was back when it was released in 2009. Satoshi Nakamoto released the digital currency, tagging it a new electronic cash system that prevents double-spending via a peer-to-peer network. A few days after its launch, the first 10 Bitcoin was traded between Satoshi and Hal Finney, the pioneer of reusable PoW systems.
At this point, many people did not believe in the idea of a digital currency, more of trusting it enough to invest in cryptocurrency. Even investors with a heart of taking risks were skeptical about investing in this digital transformation - Bitcoin.
A year after circulation, Bitcoin was still valued at $0, until sometime in 2010, when it saw a small but significant rise in value. From that point, the price of this coin continued to increase, more investors started coming in, and the cryptocurrency market started gaining more ground. Bitcoin value reached an all-time high of $68,742 in November 2021.
The all-time high recorded by Bitcoin is a major breakthrough that defied the predictions of many crypto experts. Yes, Bitcoin price was expected to go up as always, but only a few envisaged it to go that high.
Despite everything the crypto asset has been through, including having critical stones hurled at it, Bitcoin recently recorded some pretty big moments. Below are some of Bitcoin’s recent milestones in the past year;
For the first time since its introduction, Bitcoin surpassed the 1 trillion dollar mark in market value on February 9, 2021. This moment came after notable financial companies and big institutional investors began to support and adopt this cryptocurrency.
El Salvador made Bitcoin a legal tender in June, becoming the first country to do so. By implication, Bitcoin now has legal backing in El Salvador, making it a supported means of paying for goods and services. This adoption is a major achievement for Bitcoin because it came amidst several regulation issues with the coin.
A big US bank, Morgan Stanley, gave wealthy clients unrestricted access to Bitcoin funds in March. Morgan Stanley is a big investment bank in the US; it launched access to funds allowing ownership of Bitcoin.
In November, Bitcoin's price hit an all-time high of over sixty-nine thousand dollars and a market cap of more than three trillion dollars. In addition, Bitcoin’s hash rate rose to a whopping 203.5 exahashes per second in December 2021.
According to data from a credible source, 90% of the total bitcoin supply was mined as of December 2021. The rest of the supply is not expected to be mined until 2140.
Bitcoin was the first product of the cryptocurrency market; much of the market’s weight is on Bitcoin’s shoulders. Regardless of what critics say, Bitcoin set the cryptocurrency market in motion; it gets the credit for putting other cryptocurrencies into the mainstream. As such, if Bitcoin falls, the market falls with it. Alternatively, a slight improvement in Bitcoin value means an increase in value for the entire cryptocurrency market.
Moreover, many crypto investors regard Bitcoin as a reserve currency for crypto assets generally. Bitcoin’s key moments have set the cryptocurrency market on a high pedestal. It indicates that the predictions were right after all and that the future is bright for cryptocurrencies.
In conclusion, Bitcoin sets most of the trading pace in the cryptocurrency market – and that is not an exaggeration. It is not only the first; it is the largest and most valuable, with Ethereum trailing behind it though not that closely. More so, we can deduce the pace and fate of the cryptocurrency market by looking at Bitcoin’s. So wild volatility or not, Bitcoin is not going anywhere anytime soon.