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On January 3, 16 years ago, Bitcointhe first and largest cryptocurrency, was officially launched after Genesis Block mining.
The genesis block, also known as block 0, was extracted by Satoshi Nakamotothe pseudonym used by the creator or creators of Bitcoin January 3, 2009. Unlike later Bitcoin blocks, the Genesis block rewarded 50 Bitcoin, which can never be spent.
This first block included a distinct message embedded in its code: "The Times 03/Jan/2009 Chancellor on brink of second bank bailout", which referred to a headline in The Times published on the same day.
Although Satoshi Nakamoto released the Bitcoin white paper on October 28, 2008, many believe its release date to be January 3, 2009, reflecting the cryptocurrency's birthday.
The days that followed were historic: January 9, 2009 saw the first release of the Bitcoin software that launched the network and the first units of the Bitcoin cryptocurrency. Satoshi Nakamoto released Bitcoin 0.1 on this datewith Windows support only.
On January 12, 2009, the first transaction on the Bitcoin network was recorded in block 170 between Satoshi and legendary cypherpunk Hal Finney.
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From this time until now 16 years ago, Bitcoin has grown significantly into a global phenomenon. With a current market cap of $1.91 trillion, Bitcoin is trading at $96,560 after hitting record highs of $108,268 on December 17.
Bitcoin has inspired thousands of cryptocurrencies and blockchain projects, changing the future of finance, technology, and governance.
The cryptocurrency market is starting 2025 on a positive note
Cryptocurrencies rose at the beginning of the year, recovering from recent losses as investor confidence returned to the market.
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Bitcoin rose to $97,776 on Thursday, while altcoins such as Ethereum, XRP, Dogecoin and Solana rose as investors increased their holdings at the start of the year.
Crypto assets fell at the end of 2024. Although the rally that pushed Bitcoin to new highs above $100,000 faded, the major cryptocurrency ended the year up more than 120%. Long-term investors took profits, but others sold on renewed uncertainty about lower interest rates by the Fed in 2025.
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