Today is Bitcoin’s birthday. The world’s most prominent crypto was launched exactly 13 years ago, on January 3rd, 2009.

Satoshi Nagamoto created The Genesis Block. This block was the first to ever be mined. This mysterious founder is now a legend over 13 years. However, they never reveal their identities.

In the interim, the Genesis Block served as the model for future blocks in the Bitcoin blockchain. The birth of Bitcoin (and the whole cryptocurrency industry) is also this.

13 years on and the Bitcoin blockchain consists of 716,989 Bitcoin blocks, with 18,918,625.00 bitcoins having been mined which accounts for more than 90% of the token’s maximum supply of 21 million. However, the number of Bitcoin blocks is changing constantly. A new block for bitcoin is generated approximately once every 10 min.

For contributing to the network, and for creating new blocks, the first Bitcoin block was awarded 50 BTC.

Today’s Bitcoin miners are rewarded with only 6.25 bitcoins for adding a new block to the chain. Bitcoin halving occurs approximately every 4 years. When the last bitcoin is mined in 2140, the block rewards will drop to zero.

The Genesis block also came with a hidden message inscribed in its code, which stated “The Times, 03/Jan/2009: Chancellor at the brink of a second bailout bank.”

The message refers to the main headline of “The Times” newspaper of that January 3rd, 2009. It’s considered both the timestamp to the Genesis Block as well as a clue towards the fall of global financial systems, which led to the birth and development of the decentralized alternative.

Bitcoin’s development has been remarkable since its conception.

The world’s first cryptocurrency has established itself as the dominant leader of the crypto space. Its accomplishments in decentralized finance are numerous and glittering, having topped an all-time high of $69,044.77 in November 2021, attracted billions of dollars of institutional money, become a recognized investment asset during an economically tightening pandemic, and even receiving the status of “legal tender” in El Salvador.

The Flipside

• Although it was created as an alternative to the pre-existing centralized financial systems, 13 years later Bitcoin has itself become vulnerable to centralization risks as a growing amount of bitcoin’s supply is held in the hands of a small minority.

What You Need to Care About

Bitcoin is the dominant crypto currency in decentralized spaces, and its movements are a major factor in the price direction for the cryptocurrency market.

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