Bitcoin turns 16 years old

16 years ago, on January 3, 2009, the genesis block of Bitcoin appeared — the first block in the Bitcoin network BTC $97,698.46 Bitcoin 0.33% Market capitalization $1.93 trillion VOL. 24 hours $1.27 billion , which started the era of cryptocurrencies. The author of the block was Сатоші Накамото" href="https://noworries.news/biography/satoshi-nakamoto/" data-bio-id="4232">Satoshi Nakamoto, the mysterious creator of the flagship crypto asset, whose real name and identity remain unknown.

In recent years, there have been several attempts to uncover Nakamoto’s identity, including a 2014 Newsweek report that identified retired physicist Dorian Nakamoto as the creator of Bitcoin, who denied any involvement. Another scandal in the cryptocurrency community was caused by a controversial statement by Australian entrepreneur Craig Wright, which was not supported by convincing evidence.

The genesis block contained a text quote from The Times newspaper: «The Times 03/Jan/2009 Chancellor on brink of second bank bailout». This phrase became a symbol of distrust in the traditional financial system and an impetus for the creation of a decentralized currency.

The block contained a reward of 50 BTC, which cannot be spent due to technical features of the code. Today, these coins are seen as an artifact that embodies the ideology of bitcoin as laid down by its creator.

In 16 years, bitcoin has evolved from an experimental idea to a global financial ecosystem with a market capitalization of hundreds of billions of dollars. Despite the challenges, cryptocurrency remains the foundation of the decentralized financial world and an inspiration for new technologies.