Bitcoin is widely regarded as the top and most reliable cryptocurrency. But it hasn’t always been so; it took a while to achieve this feat. Fifteen years after the first BTC block was mined, it has endured criticism and hate to rise to the top of the crypto market.
Some people celebrate October 31, 2008—the release date of Bitcoin’s whitepaper as its original birthday. However, BTC became a true store of value and transferrable on January 2, 15 years ago.
The Genesis of the Bitcoin Revolution
The first BTC block, called the Genesis Block, was mined by its creator, Satoshi Nakamoto, on January 3, 2009. Since then, BTC has faced many problems, with lots of blocks mined over the years. But it keeps making big changes because of better technology.
Remarkably, BTC ATMs are one of the most impressive developments. These ATMs became fully operational in October 2013. The aim was to give people an avenue to swap local fiat currencies for BTC.
Because more people were using Bitcoin ATMs, more were added globally as their number grew. Thus, in 2021, there were around 40,00 Bitcoin machines all over the world.
Nevertheless, after the 2021 bear market, fewer ATMs were operational. That being said, there are presently about 34,000 Bitcoin ATMs working around the world.
Bitcoin relies on a mining mechanism. Nearly a million Bitcoin blocks have been mined since its creation. Millions of Bitcoin transactions have been executed over 15 years since the platform’s launch. All transactions are stored on the BTC blocks forever for future reference.
Bitcoin Adoption Keeps Rising Year After Year
El Salvador is a key example of a Bitcoin-friendly nation. However, BTC still struggles with institutional adoption based on sentiments from traditional finance operators.
Comparatively, El Salvador has converted Bitcoin into legal cash and benefits from its soaring value. This will likely be the case for other nations moving forward as Bitcoin prepares for another bull run.
El Salvador’s #Bitcoin investments are in the black!
After literally thousands of articles and hit pieces that ridiculed our supposed losses, all of which were calculated based on #Bitcoin’s market price at the time…
With the current #Bitcoin market price, if we were to sell… pic.twitter.com/gvl2GfQMfb
— Nayib Bukele (@nayibbukele) December 4, 2023
In December 2023, El Salvador’s leader Nayib Bukele claimed that they could realize a $3.6 million profit from BTC. He noted that critics did not believe that adopting BTC as legal tender was a good idea.
Also, trader Oliver L. Velez noted that BTC ranks as the ninth most valuable asset in the world.
Velez claims that BTC has beaten other assets due to its massive potential. Therefore, he predicts BTC will be one of the top three most valuable investments at the end of 2025.
Remarkably, BTC started low at $67.81 on July 6, 2013, and increased to a record high of $69,044 by November 10, 2021.
So, Bitcoin has shown a long-term potential to increase in value despite the challenges faced. Moreover, Bitcoin’s market value has increased to nearly $900 billion, and it remains the number one-ranked crypto asset.
So, many investors are keen on accumulating and holding BTC due to its long-term value.