Satoshi Nakamoto, the still-anonymous creator of Bitcoin, publishes “Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System,” which served as Bitcoin’s whitepaper. Bitcoin is eventually exchanged with fiat money.
Bitcoin gains notoriety as the currency used in the Silk Road, the internet’s first darknet market. Bitcoin was used to buy illegal items such as drugs, stolen credit card details, and weapons.
After hitting the $1,000 mark, Bitcoin’s prices fell to around $300.
Mt. Gox (then the world’s biggest cryptocurrency exchange) collapsed after a major hack, bringing forth questions about Bitcoin security.
Bitcoin’s second major rise and fall. From $900, Bitcoin prices climbed to $20,000. The expansion of prices - called “the bubble” by some -- burst in early 2018 when the prices plunged to around $5,000.
Due to public demand, mainstream financial corporations such as Visa and Paypal team up with Bitcoin, sending its prices up to record highs of more than $40,000.
