Thursday marked the 17th anniversary of Bitcoin’s foundational document, highlighting its evolution from a niche financial experiment to a $2 trillion global asset embraced by both governments and institutions.
Bitcoin’s creator, Satoshi Nakamoto, first released the Bitcoin white paper 17 years ago on October 31, 2008, as a response to the global financial crisis.
The document, entitled “Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System,” outlined a decentralized, peer-to-peer network capable of preventing double-spending through proof-of-work (PoW) consensus.
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Three months after its publication, Nakamoto initiated the world’s largest decentralized network by minting the first Bitcoin block, known as the genesis block, earning a reward of 50 Bitcoin (BTC).
Now, 17 years later, Bitcoin has transformed into a multi-trillion-dollar asset, ranking as the eighth most valuable asset globally, behind silver and Amazon, according to data from CompaniesMarketCap.
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Bitcoin price faces its first red October in 7 years
Despite this milestone, Bitcoin is poised to experience its first monthly loss for October in seven years, having declined over 3.5% this month and breaking a six-year trend of positive “Uptober” performances, according to data from CoinGlass shows.
Historically, October, referred to as “Uptober,” has been Bitcoin’s second-strongest month, with average returns of 19.9%. The last time Bitcoin posted a loss in October was in 2018, when it declined by 3.8%
This record $19 billion cryptocurrency market crash caused Bitcoin’s price to drop to a four-month low of $104,000 on October 17.
However, crypto analysts have characterized the correction as a “controlled deleveraging,” necessary to eliminate excess leverage from the markets and establish a more sustainable foundation for the subsequent growth phase.
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