Brussels (Brussels Morning Newspaper): Bitcoin, made by Satoshi Nakamoto in 2008, allows people to send money online without banks. It started at $0.003 in 2010 and reached over $100,000 in 2024. Companies like Tesla and countries like El Salvador support it. Despite problems like the Mt. Gox hack in 2014, Bitcoin is still popular, and new investment options are coming this year.
Bitcoin, a digital currency created by Satoshi Nakamoto in 2008, allows users to send money online without banks. After its first mining in 2009, it remained mostly unknown until the launch of the first exchange in 2010, where it was valued at just $0.003. Over the years, its popularity grew, leading to significant price increases, including a record high of over $100,000 last year, driven by political support and increasing acceptance from businesses.
How did the Mt.Gox hack influence people’s perception and use of Bitcoin?
In 2014, Bitcoin faced a big problem when Mt. Gox, the biggest exchange for trading Bitcoin, was hacked, and many Bitcoins were stolen. This made Bitcoin’s price drop a lot. Despite this, by 2016, it was found that only about 3% of Bitcoin transactions were illegal. In 2017, Bitcoin started becoming more popular with the introduction of futures trading, and in 2021, the first Bitcoin ETF was approved, allowing people to invest in Bitcoin more easily. This year, new Bitcoin ETFs are expected to come out, which will hold real bitcoins and give investors a better way to invest directly in Bitcoin.
Bitcoin is becoming very popular among big companies and countries. MicroStrategy and Tesla have invested a lot in it, and El Salvador has even made it legal. The U.S. also owns a lot of Bitcoin from seizures. Countries like Bhutan and Ethiopia are getting into Bitcoin by buying or mining it. Even though its price is increasing and decreasing a lot, many people are still interested in Bitcoin and what it could mean for the future.
