Background of Birth In 2008, the global financial crisis broke out. On November 1st of the same year, a person calling himself Satoshi Nakamoto published the Bitcoin whitepaper "Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System" on the P2P Foundation website, describing his new vision for electronic currency [90]. The Bitcoin whitepaper was published during the worst period of the financial crisis, when the failures of the banking system were evident, and they could potentially cause a global economic collapse. In the paper, Satoshi also indirectly mentioned some inherent flaws in the banking system. However, most of the ideas contained in the whitepaper were not particularly novel; the Bitcoin described in the paper was actually a fusion of economics, computing, and cryptography. Therefore, Satoshi simply combined these elements to create an alternative monetary system. [91] Development On January 3, 2009, Satoshi Nakamoto mined the first block of Bitcoin on a small server in Helsinki, Finland, known as the "Genesis Block," and received the first mining reward—50 bitcoins. The initial 50 bitcoins were thus announced to the world. In the Genesis Block (the first block with sequence number 0), Satoshi Nakamoto wrote a sentence: "The Times 03/Jan/2009 Chancellor on brink of second bailout for banks" to prove that this block was "mined" on January 3, 2009. [92] On January 9th, block number 1 was generated and linked to the Genesis Block 0, officially marking the birth of the Bitcoin blockchain. [93] New Liberty Standard first set the Bitcoin to US dollar exchange rate at 1 USD = 1309.03 BTC, or 0.0008 USD per coin (approximately 0.5 Chinese cents per bitcoin). [136] On February 6, 2010, Bitcoin Talk forum user dwdollar created Bitcoin Market, and thus the world's first Bitcoin exchange was born. On May 22nd, a programmer exchanged 10,000 bitcoins for two pizzas. Bitcoin had begun to circulate like currency, and people started to recognize Bitcoin. In June of the same year, Bitcoin Market exchange suffered PayPal fraud and had to remove the PayPal payment option. Subsequently, the platform's trading volume shrank rapidly, was soon surpassed by other newly established exchanges, and was eventually forced to close. [98] On July 17th, Mt.Gox, the world's largest Bitcoin trading website, was established, when the price of a single bitcoin was less than 0.05 USD. [94] In June 2011, Bitcoin's investment appeal exploded for the first time. [94] That year, the physical currency with the highest appreciation was the Australian dollar, with an exchange rate increase of up to 27% against the US dollar. However, the Bitcoin to US dollar exchange rate rose from 0.5 USD to 13 USD, an increase of up to 2600%. [95] On September 27, 2012, the Bitcoin Foundation was established. The foundation is a US non-profit organization that helps people exchange resources and ideas more freely, raises awareness that Bitcoin is a form of currency, and promotes its development. The foundation is decentralized, with members distributed across Spain, Australia, and US cities such as Washington and Seattle. [98] At the end of June 2013, after the German parliament decided to grant tax exemption for holding Bitcoin for more than one year, Bitcoin was recognized as a "unit of account" by the German Ministry of Finance. In August, Judge Amos Mazzant of a Texas district court ruled in a case involving a Bitcoin virtual hedge fund that Bitcoin is a currency and should be brought under the regulatory scope of financial regulations. [99] In China, some Taobao stores had begun accepting Bitcoin. On October 15th, Baidu's Jiasule service announced support for Bitcoin. Many websites targeting tech enthusiasts had also begun accepting Bitcoin transactions. [124] In the same year, the People's Bank of China and four other ministries jointly issued the "Notice on Preventing Bitcoin Risks," clearly stating that Bitcoin does not have the same legal status as currency and cannot and should not be used as currency in circulation in the market. [100] On October 29th, the world's first cryptocurrency ATM was launched in Vancouver, Canada, performing transactions of exchanging virtual Bitcoin with Canadian dollar cash. Users could deposit Canadian dollar cash into the ATM, then trade and exchange through Canada's VirtEx server, and store the exchanged Bitcoin in their online Bitcoin wallet. Similarly, users could exchange online Bitcoin for Canadian dollar cash through this Bitcoin ATM. The Bitcoin ATM was manufactured by a company called Robocoin based in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA. The owner of this ATM in Vancouver was Bitcoiniacs, a Bitcoin trading company headquartered in Vancouver. [119] On February 28, 2014, Mt.Gox, the world's largest Bitcoin trading platform headquartered in Tokyo, filed for bankruptcy protection with the Tokyo District Court and was accepted. The company's CEO apologized at a press conference held in Tokyo, saying that 850,000 bitcoins worth hundreds of millions of dollars had vanished and may have been stolen by hackers. The lost bitcoins included 750,000 held by users and 100,000 held by the company. [101] After filing for bankruptcy, users on the platform basically lost everything—neither Bitcoin nor fiat currency (US dollars) could be recovered. This included a large number of Chinese users. [102]On the evening of January 22, 2017, Huobi, BTC China, and OKCoin successively issued announcements on their respective official websites stating that to further curb speculation and prevent drastic price fluctuations, each platform would begin charging transaction service fees starting at 12:00 noon on January 24. The service fee would be charged at a fixed rate of 0.2% of the transaction amount, with the same rate applied to both active and passive transactions. [5] On January 24, under strengthened supervision from Chinese regulators, China's three major Bitcoin trading platforms sought to curb speculation in the virtual currency by charging transaction service fees. Reports indicated that China's three major Bitcoin trading platforms accounted for a large portion of global Bitcoin trading volume. Some traders stated that the absence of transaction fees had kept automated trading volumes high. [103] In the same year, the People's Bank of China and six other ministries jointly issued the "Announcement on Preventing Risks of Token Issuance Financing," reiterating the provisions of the 2013 "Notice on Preventing Bitcoin Risks." [100] In May, stimulated by factors including the ransomware virus demanding Bitcoin as payment, Bitcoin prices surged to $2,100, achieving nearly tenfold growth in two years. [104] On November 25, 2018, Bitcoin fell below the $4,000 mark and later stabilized at over $3,000. [6] On November 19, cryptocurrencies resumed their decline, with Bitcoin falling below the $5,000 mark for the first time since October 2017, due to the BCH hard fork and increased regulatory scrutiny of Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs). [6] In April 2019, Bitcoin broke through the $5,000 mark again, reaching a new high for the year. On May 12, Bitcoin exceeded $7,000 for the first time in nearly eight months. [7] On May 14, according to coinmarketcap quotes, Bitcoin rose above $8,000, up 14.68% within 24 hours. [8] On June 22, Bitcoin prices broke through the $10,000 mark, fluctuating around $10,200, with a nearly 7% increase in 24 hours. [9] On June 26, Bitcoin prices broke through $12,000, reaching a nearly 17-month high since January 2018. [10] On the morning of June 27, Bitcoin prices briefly approached $14,000, setting another new high for the year. [11] 2020 was a disruptive year in Bitcoin's history. At the beginning of the year, affected by the pandemic, as overall economic uncertainty rose sharply, financial markets experienced unprecedented massive changes. [106] On February 10, Bitcoin broke through $10,000. According to trading data, Bitcoin's price increase exceeded 3%. [12] After the second U.S. stock market circuit breaker on March 12, panic quickly spread to the digital currency market, with Bitcoin falling up to 52% within two days. [106] According to data from cryptocurrency trading platform Bitstamp, at 19:44, Bitcoin's lowest price had dropped to $5,731. [13] This crash was mainly triggered by a series of liquidations on BitMEX. At the time, Bitcoin prices fell rapidly, and a large number of long positions were liquidated in a short period. BitMEX temporarily stabilized Bitcoin prices only through system maintenance. This crash was referred to in the industry as Bitcoin's "Black Thursday" or the "March 12 Event," which marked the beginning of BitMEX exchange's decline, with its trading volume shrinking significantly and no longer being the absolute market leader. However, market panic did not persist. The U.S. Federal Reserve's continued quantitative easing created conditions for Bitcoin price increases at the macro fundamental level. As market panic gradually subsided and the impact of Bitcoin's "Black Thursday" eased, Bitcoin prices accelerated upward, initiating a new bull market. [106] At 6:00 PM on July 26, Bitcoin surged rapidly in a short time, reaching a high of 10,150.15 USDT, with a maximum intraday increase of over 4%. This was the first time it broke through the $10,000 mark since June 2, 2020. [14] As of 19:20 on December 27, Bitcoin was quoted at $28,273.06. [15] 00:29 Revealed: The Bitcoin Storm On February 17, 2021, according to AFP London, following support from some heavyweight companies, this virtual currency broke through the $50,000 mark for the first time on the 16th local time after appreciating nearly 75% in 2021. [105] On February 20, Bitcoin's total market capitalization exceeded the $1 trillion mark. [1-2] On March 13, Bitcoin rose about 6% in 24 hours, standing above $60,000 per coin, with a market value of approximately $1.1 trillion. [19] On May 20, the U.S. Treasury Department announced it would crack down on cryptocurrency markets and transactions, stating that all transfers of $10,000 or more must be reported to the IRS. Shortly after the announcement, Bitcoin reversed its trend, last rising 1.6%. On May 21, the Financial Stability and Development Committee of China's State Council held its 51st plenary meeting. The meeting specifically emphasized firmly cracking down on Bitcoin mining and trading activities and effectively preventing individual business risks from further spreading to the social sphere. After the news was released, the cryptocurrency market responded with volatility, and Bitcoin prices instantly fell below $38,000, dropping 9.05% within 24 hours. [107]In June 2021, El Salvador passed the "El Salvador Bitcoin Law," which stipulated that Bitcoin would become legal tender in the country and would take effect ninety days after publication in the government gazette. [21] On September 7, the law came into effect, and Bitcoin officially became legal tender in El Salvador, making it the first country in the world to grant legal status to a digital currency. [21] [25] On September 24, the People's Bank of China issued a notice on further preventing and addressing the risks of virtual currency trading speculation. The notice stated that virtual currencies do not have the same legal status as legal tender. [26] In the same month, the People's Bank of China and ten other ministries jointly issued the "Notice on Further Preventing and Addressing the Risks of Virtual Currency Trading Speculation," clarifying that virtual currency-related business activities constitute illegal financial activities, and that overseas virtual currency exchanges providing services to residents in China via the internet also constitute illegal financial activities; any legal person, unincorporated organization, or natural person investing in virtual currencies and related derivatives in violation of public order and good morals shall have their related civil legal acts deemed invalid, and any resulting losses shall be borne by themselves; those suspected of disrupting financial order or endangering financial security shall be investigated and dealt with by relevant authorities according to law. [100] On November 13, Bitcoin's market capitalization surpassed that of Facebook and Tencent, entering the world's top five. On November 10, Bitcoin's price reached a new all-time high, approaching $69,000 per coin for the first time. [30] 02:07 Bitcoin becomes legal tender for the first time, what is El Salvador aiming for? In 2022, Bitcoin continued to fluctuate within the range of $34,000 to $48,000 [107]. On January 26, the International Monetary Fund called on El Salvador to change course and stop using Bitcoin as legal tender, citing the "significant risks" posed by cryptocurrencies. [108] In February, the U.S. Department of Justice announced the seizure of approximately $3.6 billion worth of stolen Bitcoin and arrested a couple on money laundering charges. [40] On March 1, according to Bloomberg, the U.S. Treasury Department issued new regulations prohibiting Americans from providing any support to Russian oligarchs and entities, including transactions using digital currencies or crypto assets, with the rules taking effect on March 1. On the same day the new regulations were issued, Bitcoin's price surged sharply, jumping from around $41,800 to approximately $44,000, with a 24-hour increase of over 14%. [41] On March 24, Pavel Zavalny, Chairman of the Russian State Duma Energy Committee, stated at a press conference that Russia was willing to accept Bitcoin as payment for its natural resource exports. [43] On March 25, facing increasing sanctions from Western countries, Russia considered accepting Bitcoin as payment for its oil and natural gas exports. [44] In the same month, environmental groups launched an initiative calling for Bitcoin to change its production methods to reduce its enormous electricity consumption. It is reported that Bitcoin's annual electricity consumption is higher than that of the entire country of Sweden. Ethereum, Bitcoin's main competitor, has already prepared to adopt a more environmentally friendly and energy-efficient production method, and environmentalists believe Bitcoin also needs to make changes. [45] In February 2023, the International Monetary Fund developed a nine-point action plan on how countries should treat crypto assets, with the most important point being to "safeguard monetary sovereignty and stability by strengthening monetary policy frameworks and not granting official currency or legal tender status to cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin." [48] In July, glassnode tweeted that Bitcoin long-term holders held 14.52 million Bitcoin, reaching a historical high, equivalent to 75% of Bitcoin's circulating supply. [53] On October 6, BlackRock stated that its Bitcoin spot ETF (Exchange-Traded Fund [111]) listing application was still under review by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). [109] On December 21, Argentine Foreign Minister Mondino posted on social media platform X, stating that approval had been granted confirming that Bitcoin could be used to conclude contracts in Argentina. [110] On January 3, 2024, Bitcoin dropped rapidly, falling more than 10% at one point and breaking below $41,000. [61] On local time January 9 [130], the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) posted on social platform X stating that it had approved the listing of Bitcoin ETFs. However, the message was subsequently confirmed to be a hacker's "false decree." Affected by the news, Bitcoin's price instantly surged, once approaching 479