The History of Bitcoin: First Appearance and Price Dynamics

Bitcoin is the primary and most popular cryptocurrency, which gained its fame not immediately, but at the moment it began to bring its investors 1,000% profit. Today, it is a rather expensive asset, with its price having already surpassed $100,000, yet the number of people wanting to buy BTC grows every day.

In this article, we will delve into the history of Bitcoin: how it all began, how the main cryptocurrency was established, and what we have today.

The Prehistory of Bitcoin's Creation

First Attempts to Create Digital Money

It may sound strange, but the idea of digital money was first voiced back in the 1980s, and the first attempts to create it were made then. However, due to insufficient technological development, these attempts were not successful: developer companies faced problems of centralization, inadequate security, and regulation. It's easy to print a banknote and distinguish it from a counterfeit, but it's difficult to create a virtual currency that skilled people on the network won't forge.

The Emergence of the Cryptocurrency Idea

Thanks to cryptography in the early 2000s, the idea of creating a cryptocurrency began to be discussed on specialized forums. The decentralization offered by blockchain would avoid problems with transaction security and rid the new payment system of excessive centralization, which could contribute to the formation of a new financial system.

Satoshi Nakamoto and the Bitcoin Whitepaper

Satoshi Nakamoto is the pseudonym for the person or group of people behind the creation of Bitcoin. Back in 2008, Satoshi developed the Bitcoin blockchain. In 2009, its source code became available to everyone. Interestingly, the creator of Bitcoin did not take this pseudonym for himself. It was used to send the Whitepaper of the first cryptocurrency to the addresses of the most significant cypherpunks. Since the creator of Bitcoin never revealed their identity, this pseudonym stuck.

The Birth of Bitcoin

Network Launch in 2009

On January 3, 2009, the Bitcoin blockchain was launched: the genesis block of Bitcoin was mined by Satoshi Nakamoto, marking the beginning of a new era in the financial system's development.

First Transactions

To test the system's operation, on January 12, 2009, Satoshi sent 10 BTC to programmer Hal Finney. The transaction had zero fees, but it was completed, which meant only one thing – the blockchain was functional and could conduct operations that could not be deleted or altered.

The Famous Pizza for 10,000 BTC

In May 2010, an interesting discussion thread appeared on the BitcoinTalk forum: programmer Laszlo Hanyecz offered 10,000 BTC to anyone who would bring him 2 pizzas, with one condition – they should not contain seafood. He had mined the bitcoins himself and didn't know what to do with them.

Soon, Jeremy Sturdivant responded to his offer: he ordered him 2 pizzas from Papa John's and sent Laszlo his Bitcoin wallet address. After the pizzas were delivered, 10,000 BTC were deposited into his wallet. This day is still celebrated in the crypto community as Bitcoin Pizza Day.

The Path to Recognition

The First Dollar for a Bitcoin

For the first time, BTC crossed the $1 mark in February 2011. This is attributed to the fact that the $1 milestone was quite significant for the first cryptocurrency, which attracted new investors.

The Emergence of Crypto Exchanges

Shortly after, crypto exchanges began to appear, making the exchange of Bitcoin for fiat currency fast and convenient.

The Story of Mt. Gox

The once-dominant exchange Mt. Gox, launched in 2010, did a lot for the spread of Bitcoin: at one point, it accounted for over 70% of the total trading volume of the first cryptocurrency, and other crypto exchanges found it extremely difficult to compete.

However, this did not last long: by 2011, it became clear that the exchange had security problems, as 80,000 BTC of its clients disappeared. The matter was hushed up then. In 2014, Mt. Gox abruptly suspended Bitcoin withdrawals, and then news emerged: over 3 years, more than 750,000 BTC of its users had been stolen from the exchange. The exchange soon ceased to exist.

The Silk Road and the Darknet

Since blockchain technology was new and still relatively unexplored, and transactions could be conducted anonymously, Bitcoin became an excellent payment method for illegal goods and services.

Silk Road was an online marketplace on the darknet created in 2011. It can be said that thanks to the demand from Silk Road users, Bitcoin surpassed the $10 mark: the platform's main income came from selling drugs for bitcoins. This could not fail to attract the attention of law enforcement agencies: by 2013, the platform's turnover was in the millions of dollars, which led the FBI to track down its creator and shut down the site.

The Growth Era (2013-2017)

The First Big Bubble

In the fall of 2013, the value of Bitcoin suddenly jumped to $1,150, or 1,000%. The reason cited is excessive activity from newly arrived investors at a time when the price of Bitcoin had grown by 100% in a couple of weeks. At that time, no other asset could provide such a return, especially in such a short period, so investors worldwide decided to invest in the main cryptocurrency.

However, this did not last long: in December 2013, China completely banned all cryptocurrency operations in the country, which caused its value to collapse by 50% in just two weeks.

Recognition by Institutional Investors

The arrival of institutional investors in the market was eagerly awaited by all crypto enthusiasts because the capital they had at their disposal could easily move the entire crypto market to a new stage, not just Bitcoin.

One of the first was the Pantera Bitcoin Fund, created in 2013. In December 2017, it announced that its return had reached 25,004%. Most of the profit was obtained from the rapid growth of Bitcoin, whose price reached $15,500 in 2017.

But this was still not enough for really big players to become interested in Bitcoin: the cryptocurrency market was not regulated in any way, which meant there was little trust in it.

The 2017 Rally

By the end of 2017, the value of the main cryptocurrency reached $20,000, given that at the beginning of the year, the price of BTC was only $950. One of the main reasons for the rally at that time was ICOs – Initial Coin Offerings. The essence was that a project released a White Paper with a roadmap or a future development plan. The project needed money for this, which was raised by selling its tokens for BTC or ETH.

There were plenty of people willing to invest in a startup at an early stage by buying tokens and then selling them at a good profit, so the demand for the main cryptocurrency grew. But it soon became clear that most ICO projects were scams that collected money and had no intention of developing the projects. As a result, by the end of 2018, the price of BTC had dropped to $3,200.

The Maturation of Bitcoin (2018-2022)

The Crypto Winter of 2018

The collapse of Bitcoin after the end of the ICO period lasted for a long time: all cryptocurrencies began to get cheaper, and some companies and exchanges closed. Despite all this, the crypto market managed to establish itself as a young and developing sector.

The Impact of the Pandemic

Bitcoin, like the entire crypto market, began to recover its positions after the crypto winter only a year later: between 2019 and 2020, its price was in the range of $6,000 to $10,000. Soon, all financial markets faced a new test: a worldwide COVID-19 pandemic was declared.

Initially, it seemed that the first place investors would withdraw capital from would be cryptocurrencies. And so it happened: in March 2020, the price of Bitcoin again dropped to $5,000. However, what happened next, no one could have predicted: Bitcoin began to recover in price much faster than traditional assets. At the end of April 2020, Bitcoin again exceeded $5,000, and by the end of the year, the rate of the main cryptocurrency had stabilized at $30,000.

Institutional Adoption

After BTC showed its ability to recover from strong collapses, proving its worth as a deflationary asset, institutional investors became seriously interested in Bitcoin.

In 2020, MicroStrategy first invested in Bitcoin, and today it is the largest public holder of BTC, with over 460,000 coins. At the same time, Tesla decided to add the ability to purchase its cars for BTC and also acquired a certain number of coins. The adoption of the main cryptocurrency by such well-known companies did its job: large players began to enter the crypto market.

The Modern Era (2023-2025)

Approval of Bitcoin ETFs

In early 2024, it became known that the SEC (U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission) had approved the creation of BTC-ETFs: these are funds backed by Bitcoin. They can be bought by investors who do not want to interact directly with cryptocurrencies but prefer to do so through an intermediary in the form of companies that issue these funds, as they are responsible for the safety of the cryptocurrency. The first rumors that BTC-ETFs would soon be approved appeared in the fall of 2023, and its growth began around the same time: from $26,000 to $44,000.

New All-Time Highs

In November 2024, the US presidential elections were held, where Donald Trump, a candidate, spoke positively about the crypto market as a whole. Moreover, he proposed creating a national Bitcoin reserve, which truly excited the crypto market: throughout November 2024, BTC updated its all-time highs, and in January 2025, when Trump officially took office as President of the United States, it set a new ATH – $109,114.

Mass Adoption

After a long period of formation and a series of trials, large capital finally came to the crypto market: now the capitalization exceeds $3 trillion, and major players are investing in Bitcoin as the main cryptocurrency. That is why today the depreciation of Bitcoin is simply impossible: there are too many people willing to buy this fundamental asset.

Key Success Factors

Technological Advantages

Blockchain technology, and with it Bitcoin, became a real breakthrough and marked the start of a new financial system where people do not need intermediaries like banks to transfer money to the other side of the world. The security and transparency of the blockchain allow you to not worry about something happening to the transaction.

Limited Emission

Bitcoin has a limited emission: a total of only 21 million BTC can be mined, of which 19.8 million BTC have already been mined. Considering how many people want to add the main cryptocurrency to their portfolio today, the limited emission acts as nothing less than a deflationary mechanism that will not allow Bitcoin to depreciate.

Network Effect

Bitcoin and the crypto market are often mentioned in online publications, it is used as a means of payment in some countries, and officials receive salaries in BTC. None of this would have happened without the support of the crypto community, especially in the early stages, thanks to which the first crypto exchanges and other cryptocurrencies appeared.

What's Next?

Based on all the factors described above, it can be assumed that the value of Bitcoin will continue to grow. But one should not expect any explosive growth: after all, BTC has already broken the $100,000 mark, so its price will most likely grow by tens of percent per year, but not by hundreds.

The only thing that currently keeps the main cryptocurrency in a "suspended state" is the promises of the current US President and his administration: if, for some reason, they are abandoned, it will negatively affect the value of Bitcoin, as well as the entire market.