Summary of Blockchain history

Summary of #blockchain history

The first concept of blockchain dates back to 1991, when the idea of a cryptographically secured chain of records, or blocks, was introduced by Stuart Haber and Wakefield Scott Stornetta.

2008

Satoshi Nakamoto, a pseudonym for a person or group, publishes “Bitcoin: A Peer to Peer Electronic Cash System.”

2009

The first successful Bitcoin (BTC) transaction occurs between computer scientist Hal Finney and the mysterious Satoshi Nakamoto.

2010

Florida-based programmer Laszlo Hanycez completes the first ever purchase using Bitcoin — two Papa John’s pizzas. Hanycez transferred 10,000 BTCs, worth about $60 at the time.

The market cap of Bitcoin officially exceeds $1 million.

2011

1 BTC = 1 USD, giving the cryptocurrency parity with the US dollar.

Electronic Frontier Foundation, Wikileaks and other organizations start accepting Bitcoin as donations.

2012

Blockchain and cryptocurrency are mentioned in popular television shows like The Good Wife, injecting blockchain into pop culture.

Bitcoin Magazine launched by early Bitcoin developer Vitalik Buterin.

2013

BTC market cap surpassed $1 billion.

Bitcoin reached $100/BTC for the first time.

Buterin publishes the “Ethereum Project” paper, suggesting that blockchain has other possibilities besides Bitcoin (like smart contracts).

2014

Companies Zynga, The D Las Vegas Hotel and Overstock all start accepting Bitcoin as payment.

Buterin’s Ethereum Project is crowdfunded via an Initial Coin Offering (ICO) raising over $18 million in BTC and opening up new avenues for blockchain.

2015

Number of merchants accepting BTC exceeds 100,000.

NASDAQ and San-Francisco blockchain company Chain team up to test the technology for trading shares in private companies.

2016

Tech giant IBM announces a blockchain strategy for cloud-based business solutions.

The government of Japan recognizes the legitimacy of blockchain and cryptocurrencies.

2017

Bitcoin reaches $1,000/BTC for the first time.

Cryptocurrency market cap reaches $150 billion.

JP Morgan CEO Jamie Dimon says he believes in blockchain as a future technology, giving the ledger system a vote-of-confidence from Wall Street.

2018

Facebook commits to starting a blockchain group and also hints at the possibility of creating its own cryptocurrency.

IBM develops a blockchain-based banking platform with large banks like Citi and Barclays signing on.

2019

China’s President Ji Xinping publicly embraces blockchain as China’s central bank announces it is working on its own cryptocurrency.

Twitter & Square CEO Jack Dorsey announces that Square will be hiring blockchain engineers to work on the company’s future crypto plans.

2020

BTC almost reaches $30,000 by the end of 2020.

PayPal announces it will allow users to buy, sell and hold cryptocurrencies.

Blockchain becomes a key player in the fight against COVID-19, mainly for securely storing medical research data and patient information.

2021

Bitcoin surpasses $1 trillion in market value for the first time.

Popularity for the implementation of Web3 rises.

El Salvador becomes first nation to adopt Bitcoin as legal tender.

Tesla buys $1.5 billion in BTC, becoming the first car manufacturer to accept Bitcoin as a form of automobile payment.

The metaverse, a virtual environment incorporating blockchain technology, garners mainstream attention.

2022

Cryptocurrency loses $2 trillion in market value, due to economic inflation and rising interest rates.

Google launches a dedicated Digital Assets Team to provide customer support on blockchain-based platforms.

The U.K. government proposes safeguards for stablecoin holders.