Bitcoin’s 9-Paged Whitepaper clocks 14 years old today
It’s a “Happy Halloween” to non-crypto natives around the world, but today is quite as memorable for them as it is for crypto lovers. The 31st of October every year since the release of the Bitcoin whitepaper has been important to the crypto community. Bitcoin has come a long way since its creation by the “anonymous Satoshi Nakamoto.” It was initially meant to be means of payment through a decentralized system but has transitioned into a store of value.
Summary
- The first person in history to receive the first bitcoin was Hal Finney.
- Before Hal’s demise in 2014, he shared an account of his experience with bitcoin and Satoshi Nakamoto.
- Bitcoin holds the world record of being the first decentralized cryptocurrency.
How Bitcoin came to be?
An eventful 31st of October 2008 recorded that a link to a paper titled: “Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electonic Cash System” was sent to a cryptographic mailing list. This paper was authored by someone under the alias “Satoshi Nakamoto.” Satoshi’s intention was to make the bitcoin code open source which meant it would be available to everyone. He went on to release the code on January 2009. To date, no one, and we mean no one knows the identity of Satoshi Nakamoto. There have been some guesses, but it has been debunked countless times.
The first person in history to receive the first bitcoin was Hal Finney, and he was the first person to create the first reusable proof of work system. Finney downloaded the bitcoin software on its release date and received ten bitcoins from Nakamoto on January 12, 2009. He made the timeless tweet which read, “running my bitcoin.” Hal had quite an eventful run with bitcoin and was able to work in tandem with Nakamoto to fix the bugs in the bitcoin code. Before his demise in 2014, he shared an account of his experience with bitcoin and Satoshi Nakamoto.
How Large Is the Market Capitalization of Bitcoin?
Bitcoin surpassed the $1 trillion market capitalization in 2021 and also got to its all-time high of over $60 000. Bitcoin’s creation undoubtedly sparked a financial revolution, with over 20,000 altcoins created and over 500 exchanges in existence.
Bottom Line
Many countries and financial institutions have developed a keen interest in the flagship cryptocurrency in recent years. El Salvador is the most prominent of them all after making bitcoin a legal tender in the country. The president, Nayib Bukele, is a strong proponent of bitcoin. Bitcoin also holds the world record of being the first decentralized cryptocurrency.
In just 14 years, Bitcoin has accomplished far more than anyone could have predicted. Despite the current market sentiments, we do expect to see more innovations in the crypto industry, and all can be tied to the first move made by Satoshi Nakamoto.
