10 years of Bitcoin

October, 31 marks a 10-year anniversary since the release of Satoshi Nakamoto’s whitepaper, which can be considered the birthdate of Bitcoin.

An unknown person or entity under the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto published the whitepaper called ‘Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System’ and in doing so, became one of the most influential identities of the past several years and revolutionized financial markets. This not only gave birth to the first cryptocurrency and electronic cash system but to a whole new and dynamic industry which has much controversy about it and certainly has reshaping effects on the concept of money and the financial ecosystem as a whole. It also notes the beginning of a technological innovation which changes the way technology interacts with other aspects of life.

For the ten years of existence, Bitcoin experienced a dynamic development, lots of highs and lows and it inspired the creation of a thousand different cryptocurrencies as well as many other non-currency blockchain projects. The feature of Bitcoin being open source is the one who let this happen as it allowed anyone to copy, examine, and alter any way they please. Another of its features which might be considered contributing to its success is the digital scarcity. Today, the internet provides access to almost limitless content. However, this diminishes the content’s value. Other advantageous features – anonymity, decentralization. The scarcity, on the other hand, ensures no oversupply to cause inflation. Other positive Bitcoin features include anonymity and decentralization (no need for trusted authority validation).

Brief price evolution (Check out other interesting facts, here):

• On 3 January 2009, Nakamoto created the first block of bitcoin’s blockchain and mined the first 50 units of bitcoin, which however are hardcoded into the software and unspendable. 
• The world’s first bitcoin transaction took place on 12 January 2009, when Nakamoto transferred ten bitcoins to Hal Finney who then became a miner.
• Laszlo Hanyecz performed the first ever real-world transaction by buying two pizzas in Jacksonville, Florida for 10,000 BTC on 22 May 2010. In Feb 2011 – April 2011 Bitcoin was equivalent to 1 USD.
• In December 2017, Bitcoin reached its all-time high of $19,783.06.
• Current price, (as of November 1, 2018) – 6408.38 USD.

For Bitcoin’s  10-year birthday, eToro a global trading community platform, with millions of registered users have set up at  London’s Finsbury Avenue Square, a unique ATM that’s activated by song. The idea is to give away £10,000 worth of bitcoin with vouchers between £20 and £250 offered to people singing the song “Happy birthday.” The eToro Bitcoin Birthday ATM was free to use and available on a first-sing-first-win basis. The song-activated ATM was created by a team of computer programmer specialists, tech experts, and sound engineers, using advanced audio and voice technology. It detects the specifics of the melody and the volume of the singing. There is a digital display showing the volume range and hints the singers whether to increase/decrease it and how much of the song they need to complete. Also, their experience is captured on camera giving them the opportunity to share a video on social media.

No one really knows what the future holds for Bitcoin, but one thing is for sure, its place in history is secured, and it will be remembered.