The world of crypto has evolved exponentially, giving rise to new currencies and software. The coins are traded on their specific software, for example, the Bitcoin trading site in the case of Bitcoin. Here’s a short guide to the history of cryptocurrency and some of the important events it unfolds.
The Concept of Cryptocurrency
The concept of cryptocurrency was initially coined in the late 1980s to create money that could be transferred anonymously (without mentioning the name and details of sender and receiver) and without centralized institutions (i.e. Banks). David Chaum, an American cryptographer, started the Digicash network, an anonymous cryptographic electronic money, in 1995.
An early cryptography-based online payment needed software to withdraw money from a bank and specific encryption keys to send money. Following it, Nick Szabo invented Bit Gold in the late 1990s, which is frequently referred to as a direct forerunner of Bitcoin.
The process started in the year 2008. Satoshi Nakamoto was the individual who published the paper. He defined the process of bitcoin blockchain after buying the BTC for himself.
The Market Begins to Take Shape (2010-2014)
Even though it was not worth much at the time, Bitcoin established real-world value. It reached a high of over one dollar in February 2011 before plummeting to roughly 86 cents. The cost of a Bitcoin surged from a few cents to nine dollars by the end of May and the beginning of June. When Gawker released an article about the currency’s increasing popularity on June 1, the price rose more than four times in a week to over twenty-six to thirty dollars. The market value of bitcoins in circulation was around $129 million. Altcoins had begun to emerge by that time.
Meanwhile, the price of BTC started to grow. Bitcoin’s price fluctuated wildly throughout 2013 due to governmental, criminal, regulatory, and software-related difficulties. Its price peaked in November 2015 and again started to decline following the beginning of next year. This marked the start of yet another long-term decline, with Bitcoin falling below one hundred and fifty dollars in January 2015.
Headlines dominated by cons (2014-2016)
Even though seven major cryptocurrency exchanges were attacked in 2019, platforms are now giving stronger assurances on their reserve holdings in the case of cyber-attacks, such as Binance’s Secure Asset Fund for Investors, which acts as an immediate insurance fund. Crypto traders are advised to use a hardware or software wallet rather than depositing their cryptocurrency on an exchange. At the beginning of cryptocurrency’s existence, wallets like these were not as ordinary.
Rise of BTC (2016-2018)
Year on year, bitcoin prices increased considerably, rising from more than four hundred dollars in January 2016 to almost one thousand dollars by next year. A software upgrade to Bitcoin was carried out in mid- 2017 to increase scalability.
At the same time, Ethereum was making waves in the cryptocurrency world and was regarded as the second most valuable cryptocurrency. It introduced smart contracts to bitcoin, resulting in over two hundred thousand distinct projects. The process of ETH blockchain is used in each of them. These initiatives have their coins with particular objectives and ambitions as that of Bitcoin. Other blockchains, like Ripple, also stand in the line of competitors.
Recovery mode (2018 to present)
Bitcoin was unable to maintain its price hike, and Ethereum, which had achieved its all-time high of about fourteen hundred dollars in early 2018, was also unable to keep the price surge. However, prices did not stay low, and since the end of 2018, Bitcoin, along with most other cryptocurrencies, including Ethereum, has risen in value. The volatility led to price swings, which still today holds significance. To this day, prices fluctuate unexpectedly, which is why digital currencies are considered highly volatile.
The bottom line
It’s easy to become excited about the investment and technological potential, whether you’re interested in Bitcoin or another blockchain project, as the industry becomes more steady with increased expertise and the emergence of ideas such as stable coins and decentralized finance.
