A decade of progress for Bitcoin and the world of cryptocurrency
Image source: pixabay - tombark
31st Oct 2018 marks the 10th year for Bitcoin, a complex yet formidable cutting-technology that is set to revolutionize the future's financial and banking industries.
It began post-financial crisis due to the bankruptcy of the US investment bank Lehman Brothers in September 2008, where "a small elite of bankers... (that) establishes monetary rules imposed on everybody", according to Pierre Noizat, founder of the first French bitcoin exchange in 2011. Source: businesstimes - AFP.
While developers and criminals seem to be the first to use Bitcoin, it was not until 2013 when Bitcoin surpassed $1,000 and gained the attention of financial institutions. The world was very skeptical about the new creation.
Bitcoin was first estimated to be valued at $0.00076 on 5th October 2009 determined by its cost of production. That was before:
- The halving of the mining blocks
- Increased difficulty of finding solutions to the mathematical puzzles
- High inflation rates due to a large amount of Bitcoin "mined" at the time
Image source: pixabay - igorovsyannykov
The $30 million pizza definitely made headlines when Laszlo Hanyecz, a virtual currency develop in Florida, decided to pay a pizza delivery man 10,000 Bitcoins on 22nd May 2010. Although being worth only $41 at that time of spending, 10,000 Bitcoins is worth closer to $6.5 million today. Source: economictimes - AFP.
Bitcoin gained media attention on the case of the Mt. Gox cryptocurrency exchange hack, where close to half a million worth of Bitcoin went missing.
After malfunctioning for over two weeks, the main bitcoin exchange -- based in Tokyo and known as Mt. Gox -- filed for bankruptcy protection in February 2014. Its former chief, a Frenchman name Mark Karpeles, is still facing legal proceedings in Tokyo, where he was briefly placed under arrest.
Source: economictimes - AFP
Image source: pixabay - Alexa_Fotos
While other alt coins and ICOs gained favor of the public, Bitcoin's speculation and hype caused the peak on its Bitcoin prices in Dec 2017, just a year ago, reaching $20,000 per Bitcoin.
Since then, many analysts called for the "Burst of the Bitcoin Bubble", volatility ensues while hacks and thefts made headlines every other day. It was a "dry season" for cryptocurrencies this year 2018 as a series of failed attempts to get Bitcoin ETFs approved disappointed many investors.
Regulations have set in on exchanges and bans have been put in place for some countries such as China, Korea and India. Regulatory bodies vow to increase the security of cryptocurrency exchanges and the policing on coin thefts and hackers.
As much as we have observed stability returning to Bitcoin in the last 18 weeks, Bitcoin remains steady at $6,500, a price far from last year's peak. Optimistic and bull market analysts have considered the chance of an incoming Bitcoin ETF, better security for exchanges, increase in institutional investors as well as Bitcoin's nature as a limited supply asset that stores value.
It might still be a rough road ahead but I am glad to be part of this group, as a Steemit writer that runs on blockchain, a coin miner with a mining rack running on and off as well as an investor that has invested in the cryptocurrency market. And as for you, a well-informed reader as we continue to share knowledge about Bitcoin and how blockchain is changing our future.