Bitcoin history timeline

Satoshi Nakamoto posts Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System to the Cryptography mailing list.

Satoshi archive: /satoshi/cryptography-014810/

Sources: This archive: whitepaper announcement · metzdowd Cryptography list

Perry E. Metzger Listen Cues at 25:20 · play on click, quiet fade.

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Ray Dillinger, Hal Finney, James A. Donald and others press Satoshi on scaling, incentives and design while Bitcoin is still a PDF.

Satoshi archive: /satoshi/collaborators/?branch=reviewers

Sources: Collaborators tree · Cryptography list Nov 2008

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Block 0 is mined with the Times headline about bank bailouts embedded in the coinbase.

Satoshi archive: /satoshi/timeline/#genesis

Sources: Bitcoin Wiki: Genesis block · mempool.space block 0

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Satoshi announces the first public client on the Cryptography list and begins onboarding early testers.

Satoshi archive: /satoshi/cryptography-014994/

Sources: This archive: v0.1 announcement

Martti Malmi Listen Cues at 62:54 · play on click, quiet fade.

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Satoshi sends coins to Hal Finney in block 170, the first peer-to-peer bitcoin payment.

Satoshi archive: /satoshi/timeline/#first-tx

Sources: This archive: Hal Finney · Bitcoin Wiki: Genesis block / early history

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Martti emails Satoshi offering to help with the site, forum and Linux builds. Their published mail is the largest private set in the Satoshi archive.

Sources: This archive: Martti Malmi

Martti Malmi Listen Cues at 62:54 · play on click, quiet fade.

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One of the first public bitcoin-to-dollar rate pages appears, giving hobbyist coins a quoted price before major exchanges.

Satoshi archive: /satoshi/timeline/#newlibertystandard

Sources: Archived New Liberty Standard rate page

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The community forum that grows out of bitcoin.org becomes the main English-language square for development and trade talk.

Sources: BitcoinTalk · This archive: forum context

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Laszlo Hanyecz pays 10,000 BTC for two pizzas, the landmark commerce story of Satoshi's active years.

Satoshi archive: /satoshi/timeline/#pizza-day

Sources: BitcoinTalk: Pizza for bitcoins · Wikipedia: History of bitcoin

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Jed McCaleb's Mt. Gox card-trading site pivots to bitcoin, becoming the dominant early exchange.

Sources: Wikipedia: Mt. Gox

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A bug creates billions of fake bitcoins; an emergency soft-fork fix rolls back the bad chain. Early proof that consensus bugs are existential.

Satoshi archive: /satoshi/timeline/#overflow-bug

Sources: Bitcoin Wiki: Value overflow incident · This archive timeline

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Satoshi and early developers discuss and introduce a maximum block size as an anti-DoS measure, a decision that later frames the block size war.

Satoshi archive: /satoshi/timeline/#blocksize-limit-talk

Sources: This archive timeline

Charlie Shrem Listen Cues at 2:41 · play on click, quiet fade.

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Satoshi argues the project is still young and that high-profile political use could destroy it "in its childhood".

Satoshi archive: /satoshi/timeline/#wikileaks

Sources: This archive: WikiLeaks warning · BitcoinTalk thread (historical)

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Ross Ulbricht's darknet market becomes the first large, notorious use case for bitcoin payments. Exact open date is often given as February 2011.

Sources: Wikipedia: Silk Road (marketplace)

On Bitcoin Takeover: Amir Taaki on the early days

Amir Taaki Listen Cues at 36:00 · play on click, quiet fade.

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Late emails to Mike Hearn say Bitcoin is in good hands with Gavin and everyone. Public Satoshi activity ends.

Satoshi archive: /satoshi/timeline/#last-messages

Sources: This archive: last messages · This archive: Mike Hearn

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Mike Caldwell's brass-cased private keys popularise physical bitcoin collectables and early cold storage culture.

Sources: Bitcoin Wiki: Casascius physical bitcoins

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Gavin Andresen and other early industry figures co-found a nonprofit to standardize, protect and promote Bitcoin.

Sources: Forbes: Bitcoin Foundation launch · This archive: Gavin profile

John Carvalho Listen Cues at 6:39 · play on click, quiet fade.

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Block reward drops from 50 to 25 BTC, the first programmed supply cut.

Sources: Bitcoin Wiki: Controlled supply

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Deposit haircuts in Cyprus send a wave of mainstream coverage toward bitcoin as an alternative to fragile banks.

Sources: Wikipedia: 2012–2013 Cypriot financial crisis

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Bitcoin's first major retail bubble and crash play out largely on Mt. Gox, exposing liquidity and trust risks.

Sources: Wikipedia: History of bitcoin

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The dominant exchange halts withdrawals and enters bankruptcy after massive losses, scarring a generation of users.

Sources: Wikipedia: Mt. Gox

On Bitcoin Takeover: Mark Karpeles on Mt. Gox

Mark Karpeles Listen Cues at 16:36 · play on click, quiet fade.

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Hal Finney, early tester and first transaction recipient, dies after living publicly with ALS.

Sources: Wikipedia: Hal Finney · This archive: Hal Finney

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Andreas Antonopoulos publishes Mastering Bitcoin, becoming a primary technical onboarding text for a generation of developers.

Sources: Mastering Bitcoin (O'Reilly)

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Mike Hearn and Gavin Andresen promote Bitcoin XT with larger blocks. Soft-fork politics harden into competing client camps.

Sources: Wikipedia: Bitcoin scalability problem · Hearn: The resolution of the Bitcoin experiment

On Bitcoin Takeover: Charlie Shrem on the block size wars

Charlie Shrem Listen Cues at 2:41 · play on click, quiet fade.

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Hearn publishes "The resolution of the Bitcoin experiment," calling the project a failure after the capacity fight.

Sources: Hearn farewell post · This archive: Mike Hearn

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The Poon-Dryja Lightning Network design becomes the leading small-block scaling roadmap alongside SegWit.

Sources: Lightning Network paper

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Miners and developers meet in Hong Kong aiming at a SegWit plus larger-block roadmap. The deal later frays.

Sources: Bitcoin Wiki / contemporary reporting on Hong Kong Agreement

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Classic and Unlimited press hard-fork larger blocks while Core focuses on SegWit and Lightning-oriented scaling.

Sources: Wikipedia: Bitcoin scalability problem · Forks described by dorks (BTK article)

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Block reward drops from 25 to 12.5 BTC.

Sources: Bitcoin Wiki: Controlled supply

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Users and node operators organise to activate SegWit via BIP148 if miners stall, shifting leverage away from hashpower alone.

Sources: BIP 148 · Wikipedia: SegWit

Amir Taaki Listen Cues at 32:00 · play on click, quiet fade.

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Digital Currency Group publishes a letter of companies and miners agreeing to SegWit activation plus a 2 MB hard fork (SegWit2x).

Sources: Medium: Bitcoin Scaling Agreement at Consensus 2017 (DCG) · Forks described by dorks

Charlie Shrem Listen Cues at 2:41 · play on click, quiet fade.

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A hard fork creates Bitcoin Cash with larger blocks. The split becomes the lasting chain split of the block size war.

Sources: Wikipedia: Bitcoin Cash · Forks described by dorks

On Bitcoin Takeover: Big blockers on nine years of BCH · Charlie Shrem on Bitcoin Cash

Calin Culianu & Steve Thurmond Listen Cues at 1:09 · play on click, quiet fade.

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Segregated Witness activates via BIP91/BIP141, enabling script upgrades and Lightning-friendly transaction formats.

Sources: Wikipedia: SegWit · BIP 141

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SegWit2x leaders call off the November hard fork after failing to build sufficient consensus, ending the NYA chain-split threat.

Sources: Contemporary reporting / NYA letter · Forks described by dorks

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Regulated futures open as bitcoin hits a then-cycle high near $20k, then a multi-year bear market begins.

Sources: Wikipedia: History of bitcoin

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Lightning moves from prototypes to a growing mainnet mesh after SegWit, becoming the leading payment-layer bet for small blocks.

Sources: Lightning Network papers / docs

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Bitcoin Cash splits again into BCH and Bitcoin SV after a bitter hash war involving Craig Wright's camp.

Sources: Wikipedia: Bitcoin SV · Forks described by dorks

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Vlad Costea publishes the first episode of the Bitcoin Takeover Podcast: S1 E1: Donald McIntyre on Bitcoin, The Teachings of Tim May and Nick Szabo, and the History of Money. The show's house rules are set out in The 5 Rules of the Bitcoin Takeover Podcast.

Sources: S1 E1: Donald McIntyre on Bitcoin, The Teachings of Tim May and Nick Szabo, and the History of Money · The 5 Rules of the Bitcoin Takeover Podcast

On Bitcoin Takeover: S1 E1: Donald McIntyre

Donald McIntyre (S1 E1) Listen Cues at 0:50 · play on click, quiet fade.

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Block reward drops to 6.25 BTC amid a year that later brings corporate treasury buyers.

Sources: Bitcoin Wiki: Controlled supply

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Michael Saylor's MicroStrategy announces large bitcoin buys, opening a corporate treasury narrative.

Sources: MicroStrategy / contemporary SEC filings and press

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PayPal announces crypto buying and selling for US users, another mainstream distribution channel.

Sources: PayPal newsroom (Oct 2020)

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Tesla's filing showing a large bitcoin position and brief payment support drives a retail mania peak.

Sources: Tesla SEC filing / contemporary reporting

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Coinbase goes public, a symbolic mainstreaming moment for US crypto brokerage.

Sources: Coinbase investor relations / contemporary reporting

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El Salvador's legislature makes bitcoin legal tender, the first nation-state experiment of its kind.

Sources: Wikipedia: Bitcoin Law (El Salvador) · Adopting Bitcoin / BTK coverage

On Bitcoin Takeover: Adopting Bitcoin conference episode

Kemal & Noor Listen Cues at 36:30 · play on click, quiet fade.

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Chinese regulators escalate crackdowns on mining and trading, accelerating a geographic hash-rate migration.

Sources: Contemporary reporting on PRC crypto mining ban 2021

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Taproot/Schnorr activates, improving script privacy and enabling more flexible spending conditions.

Sources: Wikipedia: Taproot (Bitcoin) · BIP 341

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Algorithmic stablecoin meltdown ripples through crypto credit markets; bitcoin sells off with the complex.

Sources: Wikipedia: Terra (blockchain)

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Sam Bankman-Fried's exchange fails, reinforcing not-your-keys lessons for a new cohort.

Sources: Wikipedia: Bankruptcy of FTX

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Casey Rodarmor's Ordinals protocol enables sat-linked inscriptions, bringing NFT-like activity onto Bitcoin and reigniting blockspace politics.

Sources: Ordinals docs · BTK: Casey Rodarmor episode

On Bitcoin Takeover: Casey Rodarmor on Ordinals

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Ordinals-driven demand periodically floods the mempool, renewing debates about what Bitcoin blockspace is for.

Sources: Ordinals docs · BTK Casey Rodarmor episode

On Bitcoin Takeover: Casey Rodarmor on Ordinals

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The SEC approves multiple spot bitcoin ETFs, opening large traditional brokerage channels.

Sources: SEC statements / contemporary reporting Jan 2024

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After spot ETF approval, daily creations and redemptions become a new visible demand signal tracked across the industry.

Sources: SEC / ETF issuer disclosures Jan 2024

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Block reward drops to 3.125 BTC.

Sources: Bitcoin Wiki: Controlled supply

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Public mining firms, energy partnerships and hash-price stress remain central post-ETF stories, covered heavily on Bitcoin Takeover mining episodes.

Sources: BTK: Kristian Csepcsar mining history episode

On Bitcoin Takeover: History of Bitcoin mining (Braiins)

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Bitcoin Takeover publishes an interactive Satoshi-era timeline, longer people profiles and a collaborators tree sourced from the public writings.

Satoshi archive: /satoshi/

Sources: Satoshi archive · Collaborators tree

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