In the world economic and financial scene, one of the raves of the moment is the crypto currency system. A lot has been said about how it will be great if the entire world operates on a unified currency and payment system. Many people have voiced how good it will be, while some have opposed it. However, the crypto currencies since their arrival has been sweeping through the entire globe. Undoubtedly, Bitcoin is the most popular, most used, and the oldest organized and established cryptocurrency. Below is a look at the history of Bitcoin.
How It Was Created
Its creation is actually one of the mysteries that have kept many people wondering about what this currency will be about in the future. However, what the world knows for sure is that Bitcoin was created in 2008. It was in that year that the name Satoshi Nakamoto posted a paper in a cryptography mailing list. Cryptography used to be a cash system for peer to peer transactions. In the paper, a method through which electronic transactions could be generated without any recourse to trust was detailed.
Later, the first transaction was received by Hal Finney and it was 10 Bitcoins. This was sent to him when he downloaded the software on the day of its release. Other people including Wei Dei and Nick Szabo who were to come up with their own crypto currencies were the next to receive the next transactions. At that time, US$1 = 1,309.03 BTC
After this, Nakamoto mined 1 million Bitcoins, and moved away from anything involving the Bitcoin, handing it over to Gavin Andresen. One of the first notable purchases with this currency was the buying of 2 pizzas at Papa John’s, at the cost of 10,000 BTC.
Problem Discovered and Solved
In 2010, it was discovered that the verification system setup for customers before they could have their transactions registered in the log of block chain of transactions was faulty. People were able to get more information to create any amount they wanted. However, after 184 million Bitcoins that was fraudulently generated and transferred was found out, the transaction was cancelled and the problem rectified. From that moment onwards, Bitcoin popularity soared.
Many other crypto currencies using its open source code were established in 2011. The currency became the center of an episode in the movie named ‘The Good Wife,’ making it more popular. It was in 20i3 that US$1 million worth of coins were sold in a single month by Coinbase at the rate of $22 per Bitcoin. Later in 2014, Zynga, the great game website decided to allow players purchase their chips and assets with it. However, Coinbase later raised 75 million USD through Series C funding in 2015, breaking their previous record.
Current Value of Bitcoin
However, in 2016, Bitcoin exceeded the 1 exahash/sec in network rate, and the use of crypto currencies was later recognized by Japanese cabinet that year.
Its value skyrocketed in 2017, and many businesses started accepting it. However, around May 2016, the entire crypto currencies witnessed a drop in value, including Bitcoin.
It has moved from US$1 = 1,309.03 BTC in 2009, to $2,900 in June 2017. The projection is that it will continue to increase in value.
