The Most Memorable Days in Bitcoin History
Hi there, folks. We at Superorder think that historical data is one of the keys to success in trading. But today we will not bother you with complicated trading algorithms or tons of numbers. Well, there will be some numbers. Dates, to be precise. Because this article is all about dates! Let’s rest a bit and remember the most important days in a pretty long history of Bitcoin, this nice 11-year-old boy.
October 31, 2008: the White Paper Published
Maybe, it’s not a real Bitcoin milestone because there wasn’t Bitcoin itself. But there was its concept. This day, more than 11 years ago, Satoshi Nakamoto published the most important document in the history of the crypto universe — the white paper of Bitcoin. You still can read it. And we’d suggest starting from it even if it seems too difficult. This white paper is a golden key to the knowledge treasury.
January 03, 2009: the First Block Mined
Better known as the genesis block, the very first part of the very first blockchain — Bitcoin — was created this day. It has a giant (as we understand now) reward of 50 BTC. However, the first miner couldn’t spend this prize. It’s still unknown if the reward was made unspendable intentionally.
What we do know is that January 03 is celebrated as the Proof of Keys day when traders around the globe withdraw their funds from exchanges. It’s a symbol of gaining control over own funds. Even if users return their money to exchanges later, the Proof of Keys day helps to learn the importance of autonomy.
January 12, 2009: the First Transaction Completed
Some geeks consider this day as the birthdate of Bitcoin, instead of October 31, 2008, when the white paper was published or January 03, 2009, when the genesis block appeared. The first transaction was completed by Satoshi Nakamoto who sent 10 BTC to Hal Finney. Probably, this computer scientist was the first verified Bitcoin holder! Surely, after receiving such a meaningful package, Finney started mining himself. He died in 2014.
February 06, 2010: the First Bitcoin Exchange Launched
It’s difficult to imagine the crypto world without exchanges today. But there were no such trading platforms for more than a year since the first block was created! In 2010, a person named dwdollar on BitcoinTalk started a discussion of a new crypto exchange. This user then launched the test version and continued upgrading it. Named the Bitcoin Market, the exchange worked for some time but didn’t make it until 2020.
May 22, 2010: Two Pizzas Were Bought… for 10,000 BTC
Well, here it is. The most famous Bitcoin-related day. Some researchers call it the first purchase of physical goods with BTC. Let’s trust them. But what happened? Well, one guy named Laszlo Hanyecz made a post that he would pay 10,000 BTC for two large pizzas. Another guy named Jeremy Sturdivant accepted the payment, got coins, and ordered pizzas (from Papa John’s or Domino’s, it’s unclear). They cost $40 in equivalent.
Today, these pizzas worth of 10,000 BTC would cost $81 million! Obviously, Hanyecz spent a lot of money but he continues hyping. For instance, in 2018, he ordered another two pizzas but using the recently launched Lightning Network. Sturdivant also got not too much. He sold the entire amount with 10x ROI and received around $400, according to his interview. It’s a wonderful story that turned into a nice celebration.
February 09, 2011: BTC Reached 1:1 Parity with USD
When in 2009 Bitcoin got the first USD rate, people weren’t too bullish. Back in the day, you could purchase 2,300 BTC for just $1! However, 2010 and 2011 brought the first signs of turbulence when BTC started rising. February 09 was a prominent day because the first cryptocurrency reached USD parity. Means, you could buy 1 BTC for $1. Later, Bitcoin moved to $32 in four months but then reversed to $10.
November 28, 2012: the First Halving
Halvings are popular methods in the world of PoW cryptocurrencies. They decrease rewards for block mining and control the monetary inflation supporting the healthy growth of crypto economies. The first Bitcoin halving reduced the reward from 50 BTC per block to 25 BTC. It also lowered the daily production of coins and stimulated prices to skyrocket — around +8,000% over one year!
December 17, 2017: All-Time High at $20,089
Actually, there’s no confidence even in this number. Some trackers say that BTC didn’t exceed $20,000 at all. Others can’t agree on the exact date. Let’s just look at one of the most reputable cryptocurrency price trackers — CoinMarketCap. This platform clearly states that the all-time high was December 17, 2017. And it was at $20,089. Since then, we can’t reach this insane peak but who knows what will be in the future?
March 15, 2018: the Launch of Lightning Network
Yes, you can say that we missed a lot of points. But the article is about the most important dates. And this one concludes it, as for now. The Lightning Network is a new protocol focused on a huge scalability boost. It allows opening private channels between addresses and completing transactions with only one confirmation — when the channel closes. This solution works and attracts more and more nodes.
You can find more info on the Lightning Network and SegWit in our blog.
Upcoming Milestones
What events are further? It’s difficult to predict. We can only talk about predetermined things that will happen most likely. For instance, the next — third — halving will be in 116 days and it will reduce the reward to 6.25 BTC per block. Sometime in the future, we will see the limit of BTC supply. It will reach 21 million and stop. For your info, the current supply is around 18.1 million.
Other events include the planned tech upgrades, soft and hard forks, changes in the net. But the Bitcoin roadmap doesn’t exist. So, we can only monitor news and wait for the next big things. For example, one of the nearest ones is Taproot/Schnorr that will facilitate the adoption of smart contracts. And what do you think we will see soon? Feel free to discuss it with your friends by sharing and clapping this article!
