On October 31, 2008, a whitepaper titled “Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System” was published by a mysterious identity under the name “Satoshi Nakamoto.” The document discusses Bitcoin, which is the first type of cryptocurrency to ever be introduced. 

As soon as it was launched, Bitcoin quickly became one of the hottest topics on the web. Although most people say that Bitcoin is new, that’s not exactly true since it has been around for more than 10 years. Over the course of that decade, Bitcoin has undergone a lot of changes and there are now numerous bitcoin trading platforms such as Bitcoin Investor that encourage people to invest in bitcoin.  

Read on to find out how much Bitcoin has changed from its early years to its current state today.

Ealy Bitcoin (2009-2014)

After it was launched by the mysterious Satoshi Nakamoto in 2008, Bitcoin became available to the public in 2009. The only way to earn Bitcoin during this time is through mining. Mining is a process that creates or rediscovers the Bitcoin currency after solving a series of complex mathematical problems. After solving a complex mathematical problem, you’ll be rewarded with Bitcoins. 

Since it was only mined during its early stages, Bitcoin has no monetary value. It was in 2010 when a certain individual decided to sell his 10,000 Bitcoins for just two pizzas. From hindsight, if that person managed to hold onto his 10,000 Bitcoins, he would probably have more than $100 million by now instead of just two pizzas. 

As Bitcoin became more popular, the concept of having decentralized and encrypted digital currencies also became more interesting. The first alternatives to Bitcoin were introduced in 2011, which were Litecoin and Namecoin. These alternatives are often called as Altcoins and are claimed to be much better than Bitcoin in terms of speed, anonymity, or other possible advantages, according to their developers. Litecoin and Namecoin were just among the first to emerge as an ideal alternative to Bitcoin, but today, there are now more than 2,000 cryptocurrencies in circulation. It’s also worth noting that new types of digital currencies are continuously appearing every year.  

Due to its popularity, Bitcoin’s value continued to soar. In April 2013, however, Bitcoin saw one of the biggest crashes in its short history as its value fell down from $233 to $67 in just one one night. That’s a massive 71-percent drop in just 12 hours. It took seven months before Bitcoin’s value recovered, which reached a high of $1,150 in late November thanks to media coverage.

But Bitcoin faced yet another crash in mid-December of 2013, with its price going down again to half of $1,150. It took more than two years for Bitcoin’s price to recover again. The main cause of this crash was attributed to the Mt. Gox calamity of 2014. This is one of the biggest tragedies to has ever happened to Bitcoin and it nearly caused the cryptocurrency to sink. 

This happened when Mt. Gox—a Bitcoin exchange company where people can buy and trade Bitcoins—was hacked. At the time, Mt. Gox was the largest Bitcoin exchange in the world until the company was dissolved. Right after the hack, Mt. Gox put a stop to Bitcoin withdrawals and then revealed on February 7 that the hackers were able to steal 850,000 Bitcoins, which is equivalent to around $4 billion today. Because of this incident, many people began to doubt the security of cryptocurrencies, which greatly affected Bitcoin’s value for a couple of years. 

Today’s Bitcoin (2015-2019)

After its value staggered greatly in 2014, Bitcoin’s price in 2015 stayed relatively low-key and stable throughout the year. The slow but steady price growth in 2015 started from $315 to $426. 

Its value rose in 2016, which hit $772 around June. But from August to December, Bitcoin’s price fell down again. The year, however, ended on a positive note for Bitcoin as its value managed to rise to $953 by mid-December. 

In 2017, Bitcoin enjoyed a really good year as it saw many positive developments. The cryptocurrency gained support from many governments, lawmakers, and financial institutions from around the world, which helped increase Bitcoin’s value. Thanks to a rise in public interest, more media coverage, and support from many financial institutions, Bitcoin’s value rose to $10,699 at the start of December and reached an all time high of $19,783 by December 17. The price was not sustained, though, as it fell off slightly and finished the year at $13,313.

The start of 2018 was also good for Bitcoin. Its price continued to pick up from $13,313 to $17,462. But after a series of events such as Facebook, Google, and Twitter banning cryptocurrency ads and the major cryptocurrency exchange hacks, Bitcoin’s price saw a big drop yet again. By December, Bitcoin’s value was down to $3,130.

After a couple of months, Bitcoin’s price started to recover again. By April 2019, its value rose to the $4,000 mark and reached $5,200 by the end of the month. The month of May was also very strong for Bitcoin, reaching $8,600 by the end of the month. Finally, on June 22, 2019, Bitcoin’s value crossed the five-figure mark again and skyrocketed to over $13,000. 

Conclusion

The difference between early Bitcoin compared to today’s Bitcoin shows the true nature of this cryptocurrency. It is extremely volatile and it’s hard to predict whether its value will rise or fall over the next couple of years as it constantly fluctuates due to security concerns as well as government and public support. But even though it is highly volatile, many people are still interested in investing in Bitcoin. This can perhaps be attributed to to today’s Bitcoin having more media attention, exposure, and public awareness. 

 

If you’d like to invest in Bitcoin, keep in mind to do your research first before making any investments in order to avoid major pitfalls and maximize the potential profit that you can earn.