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Historical Milestones

Bitcoin's history spans from its creation in 2009 to its future supply schedule extending into the 22nd century.

2008

Bitcoin Whitepaper Published

  • Date: October 31, 2008
  • Author: Satoshi Nakamoto
  • Title: "Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System"

Satoshi Nakamoto published the Bitcoin whitepaper, introducing the concept of a decentralized digital currency system. The whitepaper outlined the technical foundation for Bitcoin, including proof-of-work, the blockchain, and the peer-to-peer network architecture. Its release coincided with the 2008 financial crisis—bank bailouts, failed institutions, and loss of trust in central banks—which gave the idea of peer-to-peer electronic cash without intermediaries immediate relevance.

2009

Bitcoin Launch

  • Date: January 3, 2009
  • Block: 0 (Genesis Block)
  • Block Reward: 50 BTC
  • Creator: Satoshi Nakamoto

The Genesis Block was mined by Satoshi Nakamoto, marking the birth of the Bitcoin network. The block contains a hidden message in its coinbase transaction: "The Times 03/Jan/2009 Chancellor on brink of second bailout for banks": a reference to a headline from The Times newspaper, highlighting Bitcoin's purpose as an alternative to the traditional financial system.

First Transaction

  • Date: January 12, 2009
  • Details: Satoshi Nakamoto sent 10 BTC to Hal Finney
  • Block: 170

This transaction marked the first time Bitcoin was sent from one person to another, demonstrating the peer-to-peer nature of the network.

First Exchange Rate

  • Date: October 5, 2009
  • Rate: $1 = 1,309.03 BTC

The first published exchange rate valued Bitcoin at less than $0.001 per coin.

2010

Satoshi's Handover

  • Date: Mid–late 2010

Satoshi Nakamoto gradually handed over Bitcoin development and repository access to Gavin Andresen and others, then stopped appearing in forums and email. The last known public communications are from early 2011. Satoshi’s identity remains unknown, and the protocol has since been maintained by the open-source community.

Pizza Day

  • Date: May 22, 2010
  • Details: Laszlo Hanyecz paid 10,000 BTC for two pizzas

The first real-world commercial transaction using Bitcoin. At 2024 prices, those pizzas would be worth hundreds of millions of dollars. May 22 is now celebrated annually as "Bitcoin Pizza Day."

Mt. Gox Launches

  • Date: July 17, 2010

Mt. Gox launched as the first major Bitcoin exchange, eventually handling over 70% of all Bitcoin transactions before its collapse in 2014.

Value Overflow Bug

  • Date: August 15, 2010

A critical consensus bug was discovered that allowed creation of 184 billion BTC from an integer overflow in output validation. The exploit was fixed with a soft fork, and the invalid transaction was removed from the blockchain. It remains one of the most serious early protocol bugs; the response showed the network could coordinate a timely fix.

2011

Dollar Parity

  • Date: February 9, 2011
  • Price: $1/BTC

Bitcoin reached parity with the US dollar for the first time.

First Major Rally

  • Date: June 8, 2011
  • Price: $31/BTC

Bitcoin's first major price spike, followed by a crash to $2 by November.

Silk Road Launches

  • Date: February 2011

Silk Road, an online marketplace that used Bitcoin for payments, launched. It became the best-known early use case for Bitcoin and drew attention (both positive and negative) to censorship resistance and privacy. The site was shut down by law enforcement in October 2013; the episode highlighted that Bitcoin is neutral infrastructure and that adoption and regulation would continue to evolve.

2012

First Halving

  • Date: November 28, 2012
  • Block: 210,000
  • New Reward: 25 BTC

The first halving reduced the block reward from 50 BTC to 25 BTC.

Bitcoin Foundation

  • Date: September 27, 2012

The Bitcoin Foundation was established to promote Bitcoin development and adoption.

2013

Billion Dollar Market Cap

  • Date: March 28, 2013

Bitcoin's market capitalization exceeded $1 billion for the first time.

First $1,000

  • Date: November 29, 2013
  • Price: $1,000/BTC

Bitcoin crossed $1,000 for the first time during a rally driven by Chinese exchange activity.

Silk Road Shut Down

  • Date: October 2013

U.S. law enforcement shut down Silk Road and arrested its operator. The event fueled debate over Bitcoin’s use in illicit markets and over regulation. The network continued to operate; no protocol change was required.

2014

Mt. Gox Collapse

  • Date: February 2014

Mt. Gox, then the world's largest Bitcoin exchange, suspended trading and declared bankruptcy after losing approximately 850,000 BTC to theft and operational failures. The collapse entrenched "not your keys, not your coins" as a core lesson: custody matters, and trusting third parties with bitcoin carries serious risk.

2015

Scaling Debate and Lightning Whitepaper

  • Date: 2015

The blocksize wars intensified as Bitcoin’s 1 MB block limit began to bite. Proposals to raise the limit (e.g. Bitcoin XT, larger blocks) clashed with efforts to scale via Layer 2 and SegWit. In the same year, Joseph Poon and Thaddeus Dryja published the Lightning Network whitepaper, outlining an off-chain payment-channel network that would later become Bitcoin’s main scaling solution.

2016

Second Halving

  • Date: July 9, 2016
  • Block: 420,000
  • New Reward: 12.5 BTC

2017

Bitcoin Cash Fork

  • Date: August 1, 2017

The contentious hard fork created Bitcoin Cash (BCH), splitting the community over the block size debate.

First $20,000

  • Date: December 17, 2017
  • Price: ~$20,000/BTC

Bitcoin reached its then all-time high during the 2017 bull run, driven by retail FOMO and ICO speculation.

2020

Third Halving

  • Date: May 11, 2020
  • Block: 630,000
  • New Reward: 6.25 BTC

2021

El Salvador Adoption

  • Date: September 7, 2021

El Salvador became the first country to adopt Bitcoin as legal tender.

2024

Fourth Halving

  • Date: April 20, 2024
  • Block: 840,000
  • New Reward: 3.125 BTC

Spot Bitcoin ETFs

  • Date: January 10, 2024

The SEC approved the first spot Bitcoin ETFs in the United States, opening Bitcoin investment to traditional finance.

Future

All Coins Issued

  • Date: ~2140 (estimated)
  • Block: ~6,930,000
  • Significance: Last new Bitcoin will be created

After this date, no new Bitcoin will be created through block rewards. Miners will rely entirely on transaction fees for income.