The Bitcoin White Paper was shared for the first time 11 years ago exactly on October 31. Its author, Satoshi Nakamoto, remains as anonymous as ever, despite the brawls and claims that market the course of 2019.
BTC, in its most recent condition, is quite a different asset than what was described in the White Paper. The coin took a life of its own, reaching prices that were only vaguely predicted by early adopters. Back in October 2008, Bitcoin’s network was just an idea, while in the real world the Credit Default Swap (CDS) crisis was raging, and the world of finance had to face the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers.
Surprisingly, 11 years onward, the finance world is somewhat similar to the time of the Bitcoin genesis. The quantitative easing of the past decade seems not enough to stave off the recent signs of recession. This time, instead of the European Central Bank, the US Federal Reserve is pouring in billions in daily overnight facilities, to stave off liquidity risks.
A decade and a year are a long time for BTC. In 2019, the coin was one of the best performers, appreciating by around 30%. During the last anniversary, BTC traded at around $6,127. Now, BTC kept some of its gains to $9,314.44. Over the past year, BTC survived a bear market until January 2019, then went on to boom to a yearly peak above $13,800.
In the past year, BTC saw the launch of the Bakkt futures exchange with physical delivery. BTC was king in 2019, as the expected altcoin season was at best a partial success.
BTC also shrugged off the challenges of Bitcoin SV (BSV), the fork that split off from Bitcoin Cash (BCH) and is a month away from its first anniversary.
2019 was also the year before the halving, which is expected in less than 190 days. BTC has a few more months left with a block reward of 12.5 BTC.
