The creation of Bitcoin was an introduction to a new and revolutionizing currency that left a major positive impact on millions of people around the world. This is a digital currency that is fully optimized for online use. Even though Bitcoin was cast out by many governments and other authorities around the world, people loved this new currency and contributed massively in its popularity and value.
Since Bitcoin has the potential to become the new global and unified currency, we decided to take a look at it and give you a timeline on how it rose to power, what is the current state, and what are some of the future expectations. Let’s start at the beginning.
Inception
The identity of Bitcoin’s founder remains unknown to this day. The only information that the world has is that this person uses the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto. There were some reports that this man is a 37-year-old Japanese, but nothing is confirmed yet.
This cryptocurrency was founded in 2008 and the first transaction was completed in 2009 after Hal Finney purchased 10 Bitcoins from Satoshi. The first few years were very slow for Bitcoin as it was not getting enough attention. The average value for 1 Bitcoin was around $0.3.
As time passed by, numerous people saw the potential that Bitcoin has. After all, this is a fully decentralized currency that is self-sustainable and not controlled by any bank. Its decentralization helped people save a lot of money on hidden and/or added fees during transactions, while international transactions had much lower fees than the standard. Furthermore, traders enjoyed a certain level of anonymity.
As Bitcoin’s value started going up and the cryptocurrency became pretty stable, many traders managed to make profits out of it. They started mining Bitcoins and traded them for real money. Many websites which helped beginners understand Bitcoin better and learn how to profit off of it started rising. To this day, one of the most reputable sites of this type is BTC Loophole, a site that helped people earn thousands of dollars with little effort, so you might want to check them out if you are interested.
Rise and Acceptance
The period from 2013 to early 2014 was when Bitcoin’s value started spiking. In just a year it went from $13.3 to $770. During this time, authorities around the world were made aware of this new payment method. Banks deemed it illegal due to their inability to control it and profit off of it. Soon, Bitcoin was illegal in every part of the world which is why it transferred to the black market.
While many thought that they snuffed Bitcoin out, that was not the case. Bitcoin started thriving and its value continued rising. In July 2017, Bitcoin’s price went up to approximately $2,700. But, the biggest highlight up to this point was reached in December, when the value of 1 Bitcoin spiked and went over $19,000.
A series of events after the spike made the price plunge in a matter of days. 2018 was the worst year in Bitcoin’s history – the market was unstable and the cryptocurrency had a hard time stabilizing.
Future Expectations
2019 and 2020 provided good results for Bitcoin. The cryptocurrency finally stabilized and to make things even better, several countries around the world even accepted it and made it legal for people to conduct transactions.
Many experts believe that Bitcoin’s price has the potential to peak again in 2020 and exceed a value of $20,000. Several reasons lead them to believe in this statement. The aforementioned institutional interest is one of them, the stability is the second factor, while the hash rate and its volatility provide us with valuable information.
The hash rate measures Bitcoin’s computing power and mining speed and after plunging in 2018, it finally stabilized and it is on a good path. The volatility, on the other hand, measures the value of 1 Bitcoin over a period of time. Recently, Bitcoin’s volatility hit the second-lowest rate in its history. The only time when the volatility index was lower than the one recently was when Bitcoin spiked and reached a value of over $19,000.
All of these events are identical to the ones in 2017 which is why many people believe that Bitcoin will rise again. Add the institutional interest, and you have a perfect blend of reasons why you should consider investing in Bitcoin this year.