Bitcoin passes $1 billion milestone on cryptocurrency anniversary – The Independent

Bitcoin has reached $1bn (770m) in cumulative transaction fees, passing themajor milestone on the eleventh anniversary of the worlds first cryptocurrency.

Data gathered by analytics firm Coin Metrics revealed thatover 200,000 bitcoin have now been paid in transaction feessince it launched in 2009 three months after its creator Satoshi Nakamotoa, a pseudonym, published the white paper unveiling it to the world for the first time.

Nakamoto laid out the details of a new electronic cash system thats fully peer-to-peer that negated the need for banks and other third parties, on 31 October 2008.

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Its popularity has soared in recent years but despite transaction volume increasing considerably, the actual cost of transactions has fallen over the last year. This is thanks to the implementation of solutions like the Lightning Network, which helps speed up and simplify blockchain transactions.

Bitcoin users transacted consistently on the network throughout the year, and solutions like the Lightning Network grew in size, Galen Danziger, co-founder of blockchain accelerator MouseBelt, toldThe Independent.

On 3 January, 2009, the genesis block of bitcoin appeared. It came less than a year after the pseudonymous creator Satoshi Nakamoto detailed the cryptocurrency in a paper titled 'Bitcoin: A peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System'

Reuters

On 22 May, 2010, the first ever real-world bitcoin transaction took place. Lazlo Hanyecz bought two pizzas for 10,000 bitcoins the equivalent of $90 million at today's prices

Lazlo Hanyecz

Bitcoin soon gained notoriety for its use on the dark web. The Silk Road marketplace, established in 2011, was the first of hundreds of sites to offer illegal drugs and services in exchange for bitcoin

On 29 October, 2013, the first ever bitcoin ATM was installed in a coffee shop in Vancouver, Canada. The machine allowed people to exchange bitcoins for cash

REUTERS/Dimitris Michalakis

The world's biggest bitcoin exchange, MtGox, filed for bankruptcy in February 2014 after losing almost 750,000 of its customers bitcoins. At the time, this was around 7 per cent of all bitcoins and the market inevitably crashed

Getty Images

In 2015, Australian police raided the home of Craig Wright after the entrepreneur claimed he was Satoshi Nakamoto. He later rescinded the claim

Getty Images

On 1 August, 2017, an unresolvable dispute within the bitcoin community saw the network split. The fork of bitcoin's underlying blockchain technology spawned a new cryptocurrency: Bitcoin cash

REUTERS

Towards the end of 2017, the price of bitcoin surged to almost $20,000. This represented a 1,300 per cent increase from its price at the start of the year

Reuters

On 3 January, 2009, the genesis block of bitcoin appeared. It came less than a year after the pseudonymous creator Satoshi Nakamoto detailed the cryptocurrency in a paper titled 'Bitcoin: A peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System'

Reuters

On 22 May, 2010, the first ever real-world bitcoin transaction took place. Lazlo Hanyecz bought two pizzas for 10,000 bitcoins the equivalent of $90 million at today's prices

Lazlo Hanyecz

Bitcoin soon gained notoriety for its use on the dark web. The Silk Road marketplace, established in 2011, was the first of hundreds of sites to offer illegal drugs and services in exchange for bitcoin

On 29 October, 2013, the first ever bitcoin ATM was installed in a coffee shop in Vancouver, Canada. The machine allowed people to exchange bitcoins for cash

REUTERS/Dimitris Michalakis

The world's biggest bitcoin exchange, MtGox, filed for bankruptcy in February 2014 after losing almost 750,000 of its customers bitcoins. At the time, this was around 7 per cent of all bitcoins and the market inevitably crashed

Getty Images

In 2015, Australian police raided the home of Craig Wright after the entrepreneur claimed he was Satoshi Nakamoto. He later rescinded the claim

Getty Images

On 1 August, 2017, an unresolvable dispute within the bitcoin community saw the network split. The fork of bitcoin's underlying blockchain technology spawned a new cryptocurrency: Bitcoin cash

REUTERS

Towards the end of 2017, the price of bitcoin surged to almost $20,000. This represented a 1,300 per cent increase from its price at the start of the year

Reuters

2019 has been relatively positive for bitcoin, especially when compared to the seemingly terminal decline the cryptocurrency market experienced in 2018.

After peaking at close to $20,000 in December 2017, bitcoin fell to below $4,000 before finally making a recovery earlier this year.

It still faces a number of challenges before it can ever be considered as a legitimate and mainstreamform of payment, including regulatory hurdles, price volatility and security issues that make wallets and exchanges vulnerable to hacking.

It is estimated that around $4.2bn worth of cryptocurrency hasbeen stolen by hackers so far this year, surpassing the record total from last year.

As we celebrate the eleventh anniversary of bitcoin, its important to reflect on just how far weve come as an industry, Pascal Gauthier, chief executive of blockchain security firm Ledger, toldThe Independent.

The market is maturing, institutional investors are continuing to embrace cryptocurrencies, and the long crypto winter is behind us. Despite these strides forward, security is still lagging behind."

He added that Bitcoins underlyingblockchain technology "has the potential to change the world in so many ways beyond finance, but without security this potential cannot be realised.

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Bitcoin passes $1 billion milestone on cryptocurrency anniversary - The Independent