BTCWhite Paper16 years old! How does BTC, born from adversity, ignite a global revolution?

Satoshi Nakamoto's Vision: The Birth of BTC White Paper

16 years ago today, the mysterious figure Satoshi Nakamoto released a nine-page White Paper titled 'BTC: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System' (Chinese version), bringing revolutionary changes to the digital financial world. This White Paper proposes a blueprint for reimagining how we perceive and transfer value in the digital age, delving into cryptographic hashing, Block architecture, and the time mechanism for maintaining Blockchains.

One of the main innovations of the White Paper is its introduction of the Proof of Work (PoW) system. Although Proof of Work is not Satoshi Nakamoto's invention, he applied this concept in the context of decentralized cryptocurrency to solve the Double Spending problem, ensuring that every transaction on the network can be verified through the Consensus Mechanism without relying on central authorities.

In the White Paper, Satoshi Nakamoto wrote: "Once a Block has been hashed, it cannot be changed without redoing the work. As later blocks are chained after it, the work to change the block would include redoing all the blocks after it."

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From Concept to Reality: The Evolution of BTC and Blockchain

In the context of the 2008 financial crisis, traditional Financial Institutions collapsed, and the public lost trust in the government and banks. It was at this time that Satoshi Nakamoto released the Bitcoin White Paper in a cryptography mailing list, proposing a decentralized peer-to-peer transaction system that does not rely on trust or central authority. He introduced concepts such as Proof of Work and blockchain to ensure the security and integrity of this decentralized network.

On January 3, 2009, Satoshi Nakamoto mined the Genesis Block, officially launching the BTC network. The Genesis Block embedded the headline from The Times: 'January 3, 2009, the chancellor on brink of second bail-out for banks.' This was seen as a political statement, reflecting BTC's opposition to the existing financial system. In the early days, Miners would receive a reward of 50 BTC for mining a Block, which has undergone multiple 'Halving' events over time. Currently, the reward for each Block is 3.125 BTC.

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The emergence of Bitcoin solves the major challenge of achieving Consensus in a distributed network and creates an immutable transaction record. The blockchain technology has been applied in various industries, becoming a model framework for fast, secure, and transparent transactions.

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Key Milestone: Historical Events of BTC

In the development of Bitcoin, many important milestones have emerged. "encryption City" has compiled the following for all citizens, let's review what BTC has gone through in the past 16 years together!

2008-BTC White Paper published

On October 31, 2008, a figure named Satoshi Nakamoto published the BTC White Paper in an encryption email group, proposing a concept of digital currency called 'BTC'.

2009-BTC Network Activation

On January 3, 2009, 中本Satoshi mined the Genesis Block, and the BTC network was officially launched. The Genesis Block contains the text "The Times 03/Jan/2009 Chancellor on brink of second bailout for banks".

2010-BTC was first used for physical transactions

On May 22, 2010, programmer Laszlo Hanyecz used 10,000 BTC to purchase two pizzas, marking the first real-world transaction of BTC for goods, which later became the origin of 'Bitcoin Pizza Day'.

2011-BTC reached parity with the US dollar

In February 2011, BTC first reached an Exchange Rate of 1 $BTC to 1 US dollar, symbolizing the gradual market recognition of BTC's value and attracting more interest from investors.

2013-BTC broke through the $1,000 mark

In November 2013, the price of Bitcoin broke through $1,000 for the first time, triggering a global frenzy, especially in the Chinese market, and driving rapid growth of Bitcoin.

2014-Mt. Gox exchange bankruptcy

In February 2014, the world's largest BTC exchange Mt. Gox announced bankruptcy because approximately 850,000BTC of user funds were stolen, which severely damaged the reputation and market confidence of BTC.

In 2017, the price of BTC broke through $20,000.

In December 2017, Bitcoin broke through $20,000 for the first time in the encryption currency market frenzy, attracting mainstream media attention, symbolizing that Bitcoin has become an important force in the global financial market.

In 2020, MicroStrategy began buying a large amount of Bitcoin.

In August 2020, the US-listed company MicroStrategy announced the purchase of $250 million worth of BTC, becoming the first large enterprise to use BTC as a reserve asset, triggering a series of follow-ups by enterprises.

In 2021, El Salvador announced Bit coin as legal tender.

In June 2021, El Salvador passed a law to become the first country in the world to adopt BTC as legal tender, inspiring other countries to explore the legal status of BTC.

2023-BTC ETF application further advances

In June 2023, several large Financial Institutions in the United States, including BlackRock and Fidelity, applied to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for a BTC Spot ETF, promoting the recognition of BTC in the TradFi market.

2024-BTC ETF officially approved

On January 11, 2024, the long-awaited BTCSpot ETF was approved in the United States for the first time, with three votes in favor by the five commissioners of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Click here for more information about BTC ETF.

However, BTC's exciting history goes far beyond that. Other notable events include the arrest of the founder of the 'Silk Road' on the Darknet in 2013, the hard fork that created $BCH in 2017, the launch of BTC futures trading on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME), and Tesla's announcement of purchasing BTC in 2021. These events are all recorded in the BTC history book.

Future outlook: The next step for BTC

Looking ahead to 2024, the BTC community is eagerly anticipating the upcoming Halving event. Currently, Miners receive a reward of 3.125 BTC for each Block they mine. After the Halving, this number will be reduced to 1.5625 BTC. According to CoinGecko, the next Halving is estimated to occur on April 15, 2028. Historically, each Halving event has been accompanied by a significant increase in the price of BTC.

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Image source: 'encryption City' map BTC's first four Halving times and block reward changes

On the technical front, the Taproot upgrade launched on November 14, 2021, has improved the scalability and privacy of Bitcoin (BTC), paving the way for future innovation and widespread adoption.

In addition, financial instruments related to Bitcoin are also evolving. With Grayscale's victory over the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) regarding ETF, it may only be a matter of time before BTC enters the stock market.

Conclusion: The integration of TradFi and Bitcoin

16 years later, BTC has developed from a nine-page White Paper to become an important force in the global financial market. Traditional Financial Institutions have begun to accept and participate in the Cryptocurrency market, for example, asset management giants like BlackRock have applied for BTC ETF, and the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) has become one of the world's largest encryption derivative financial product exchanges.

However, this also brings new challenges and irony. BTC was originally intended to replace TradFi intermediaries, but now traditional Financial Institutions are gradually dominating this industry. This means that the future of BTC and Cryptocurrency will seek a balance between decentralization and the power of TradFi.

At this important milestone, we review the history of Bitcoin and look forward to its future. Regardless of how it develops in the future, the publication of the Bitcoin White Paper undoubtedly opened a revolution in digital finance, with far-reaching impact. Lastly, let us believers say loudly: "BTC, happy 16th birthday!"

[Disclaimer] There are risks in the market, and investment needs to be cautious. This article does not constitute investment advice, and users should consider whether any opinions, views, or conclusions in this article are suitable for their specific situation. Investing based on this is at your own risk.