Thursday marked the 17th anniversary of Bitcoin's foundational document, a significant milestone charting the world's first decentralized digital currency's evolution from a niche financial experiment to a $2 trillion global asset held by governments and institutions alike. Seventeen years ago, on this day in 2008, Bitcoin creator Satoshi Nakamoto shared the Bitcoin white paper in response to the global financial crisis that was gripping the world.
The document, titled "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. Three months after the white paper was published, Nakamoto launched the world's largest decentralized network by minting the first Bitcoin block, the genesis block, for a reward of 50 Bitcoin (BTC).
Today, seventeen years on, Bitcoin has grown into a multi-trillion-dollar asset, ranking as the world's eighth most valuable asset after silver and Amazon, according to data from CompaniesMarketCap.
Despite this significant achievement, Bitcoin is on track to log its first monthly loss for October in seven years. BTC has fallen more than 3.5% this month, breaking a six-year streak of positive “Uptober” performances, according to data from CoinGlass. Historically, October, dubbed “Uptober,” has been Bitcoin’s second-strongest month, with average returns of 19.9%. The last time Bitcoin posted a loss for the month was in 2018, when it fell 3.8%.
The record $19 billion crypto market crash saw Bitcoin’s price fall to a four-month low of $104,000 on Oct. 17. However, crypto analysts viewed the correction as a “controlled deleveraging,” which was necessary to flush excess leverage from the markets and provide a more sustainable basis for the next leg up.
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