Here’S A Look At The Journey Of Cryptocurrency

Before the birth of Bitcoin, cryptocurrency existed as a theoretical notion. Several attempts to build digital currencies were made prior to the current version though they all failed to garner popular support. In the early 1980s, Digicash was founded by American computer scientist and cryptographer David Chaum. Probably the first prominent digital currency, Digicash went bankrupt in the 1990s as it failed to persuade banks to embrace its technology. Bitcoin was launched almost a decade later.

Here’s a look at some of the most notable events in the history of cryptocurrencies:

2008: 

Satoshi Nakamoto, the mysterious designer of Bitcoin, publishes a white paper called “Bitcoin: A peer-to-peer Electronic Cash System”. Based on the concept developed by Chinese author and computer engineer Wei Dai in 1998, the paper outlines the fundamentals of blockchain and Bitcoin.

2009: First Bitcoin transaction takes place on January 12 when Nakamoto sends computer programmer Hal Finney 10 Bitcoins.

2010: Bitcoin is hacked for the first time on August 15, exposing vulnerabilities in the system. The same year, Bitcoin is attached to a monetary value for the first time when a user trades 10,000 coins for two pizzas.

2011: Rival cryptocurrencies Litecoin, Namecoin and Swiftcoin emerge.

2012: Cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase launches services after being founded by former Airbnb engineer Brian Armstrong and former Goldman Sachs trader Fred Ehrsam.

2013: Various countries attempt to work out ways to deal with cryptocurrencies. Germany does not accept cryptos as official currency but gives it a “unit of account” status. Thailand bans bitcoin, while China stops financial institutions from using bitcoins. Meanwhile, the first bitcoin ATM is launched in Canada.

2014: Japan-based cryptocurrency trading exchange Mt Gox files for bankruptcy. In the US, Microsoft permits customers to buy games with digital currency.

2015: Ethereum, the second-largest currency by market cap in the crypto industry, emerges. European bitcoin exchange Bitstamp gets hacked, but resumes trading a few days later.

2016: By end of 2016, 900 bitcoin ATMs emerge. Uber starts accepting payments in bitcoin in Argentina. Swiss national railway also starts accepting the currency.

“Smart contracts”, a collection of code and data stored on the Ethereum blockchain, are developed.

2017: Japan legalises bitcoin, while Norway’s Skandiabanken integrates bitcoin accounts and recognises bitcoin as an investment asset.

2018: European government work on cryptocurrency regulation.

2021: El Salvador becomes the first country to accept bitcoin as legal tender alongside the US dollar.

(Edited by : Thomas Abraham)

First Published: Nov 27, 2021, 09:32 PMIST