$BTC Here’s a timeline of **key historical facts about Bitcoin (BTC)** — from its creation to major milestones and events that shaped its trajectory:
🧾 **2008–2009: Creation**
* **Oct 31, 2008**: A pseudonymous person/group named **Satoshi Nakamoto** published the [Bitcoin white paper](https://bitcoin.org/bitcoin.pdf), titled *"Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System."*
* **Jan 3, 2009**: Nakamoto mined the **Genesis Block (Block 0)** with the embedded message:
> *"The Times 03/Jan/2009 Chancellor on brink of second bailout for banks"*
* **Jan 12, 2009**: First Bitcoin transaction occurred between Satoshi and developer **Hal Finney**.
💱 **2010: First Real-World Use**
* **May 22, 2010**: Known as **"Bitcoin Pizza Day"** — programmer **Laszlo Hanyecz** paid **10,000 BTC** for two pizzas, marking the first real-world purchase using BTC.
* **Mid-2010**: The first BTC exchanges (like Mt. Gox) launched; BTC’s price rose from near \$0 to **\$0.08**.
📈 **2011–2013: Early Volatility & Growth**
* **2011**: BTC reached **parity with USD** (\~\$1) for the first time. It also hit \$30 briefly before crashing back.
* **2013**: Bitcoin hit **\$266** in April, then fell due to Mt. Gox crashes. Later in the year, it reached **\$1,000+** for the first time in November.
🏦 **2014–2015: Crashes & Consolidation**
* **Feb 2014**: **Mt. Gox**, the largest BTC exchange at the time, filed for bankruptcy after losing **850,000 BTC**, causing a major market crash.
* BTC price dropped below \$300 and entered a **"crypto winter"** for nearly 2 years.
🌐 **2016–2017: Institutional Interest & Boom**
* **2016**: Bitcoin halving event reduced mining rewards from 25 to 12.5 BTC/block. Price grew steadily throughout the year.
* **2017**: * BTC hit **\$1,000** in January and **\$19,783** by December — a massive bull run.
* **Bitcoin Cash (BCH)** forked from BTC in August due to block size debates.
* **CME and CBOE** launched **BTC futures** markets in December.
🥶 **2018–2020: Bear Market & Recovery**
* **2018**: Bitcoin fell to **\$3,200** by December after the 2017 bubble burst.
* **2020**: The third halving occurred, reducing rewards to **6.25 BTC**. * Institutional interest (e.g., **MicroStrategy**, **Square**, **Tesla**) began rising.
* BTC rebounded past **\$20,000** in December.🚀 **2021: ATH & Mainstreaming**
* **April 2021**: BTC hit a new all-time high (ATH) near **\$64,000**.
* **September 2021**: **El Salvador** became the **first country to adopt BTC as legal tender**.
* **Nov 2021**: BTC reached **ATH of \~\$69,000** before starting to decline.
🧊 **2022: Bear Market & Scandals**
* Market crashed to around **\$15,000–\$16,000** amid: * **Terra/LUNA collapse**
* **Celsius and Voyager bankruptcies**
* **FTX collapse** and fraud scandal involving **Sam Bankman-Fried**
🔁 **2023–2024: Recovery & Institutionalization**2023**: BTC recovered to \$30K–\$40K range.
* **Jan 2024**: **SEC approved spot Bitcoin ETFs** from firms like **BlackRock**, **Fidelity**, and **Grayscale** — a major legitimacy boost.
* **April 2024**: **Fourth halving** — block rewards reduced to **3.125 BTC**.
* BTC surpassed **\$70,000** and hit a **new ATH above \$73,000** in March 2024.
🔮 **2025 (So far)** BTC has stabilized above \$60,000 (as of mid-2025), with increasing usage in **institutional portfolios**, **sovereign funds**, and growing **Layer 2 solutions** (e.g., **Lightning Network**).
* Ongoing debates: regulation, CBDCs, Bitcoin energy usage, and scalability.
