The first block of the Bitcoin blockchain, known as the Genesis block, was created on January 3, 2009.
Satoshi Nakamoto, the enigmatic creator of Bitcoin, mined the First block of the blockchain network 15 years ago.
The creation of this block, also known as block #1, marked the beginning of Bitcoin, currently the market-leading cryptocurrency and the most robust network in the world.
Source: Blockchaincom
Bitcoin was born as a decentralized electronic cash protocol that can be used by anyone anywhere in the world, without the need for authorization from banks or financial institutions. Therefore, today, it has become one of the greatest events in history, which is revolutionizing the financial landscape.
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Bitcoin was created in times of crisis
In the Bitcoin Genesis block, Satoshi Nakamoto included a striking headline from The Times newspaper, which reflected the financial situation at that time.
The headline, “Chancellor on brink of second bailout for banks” (The Chancellor is considering a second bank bailout programme), is evidenced by the so-called subprime mortgage crisis, caused by the bursting of the housing bubble in the United States in 2007. This crisis affected financial institutions throughout the world, reaching its climax in 2008, with the collapse of Lehman Brothers and the beginning of the crisis of the international banking system.
With the entire economic situation that was being experienced in the world, Bitcoin emerged with the premise of revolutionizing the financial system, eliminating middlemen and unwanted elements from the system which caused uncertainty and instability and, although it remained in the shadows during the first years after its creation, it has now evolved to become one of the greatest technological and financial innovations in the world, and an alternative and decentralized system of global empowerment.
Curiosities in the Genesis block
The Bitcoin Genesis block was mined on January 3, 2009, and in it, XNUMX tokens were created. The first 50 bitcoins in history.
These bitcoins are currently worth approximately $2,12 million, according to the Bitcoin market price. However, these bitcoins will never be able to move, due to a peculiarity, which is not known whether it was intentional or accidental.
In addition to the 50 bitcoins that were mined with the Genesis block, another of the curiosities of this first block is that it does not have any preceding one, as happens with the rest of the blocks that make up the Bitcoin chain. For this reason, many consider the Bitcoin Genesis block, el Big Bang of the crypto universe.
Bitcoin's milestones since its creation
In its 15-year history, Bitcoin has achieved countless milestones and important events, such as declared legal tender in El Salvador and in the Central African Republic; achieve the Recognition as a global investment asset by giants like Michael saylor, president of MicroStrategy and Larry Fink, CEO of BlackRock; and enter the Guinness Book of Records, when it was recognized, in 2022, as the first decentralized cryptocurrency in history.
On the other hand, Argentina elected its first pro-Bitcoin president in history, marking another important milestone for the cryptocurrency.
Javier Milei, the new Argentine president, has set out to revolutionize the country's financial system, eliminating the figure of the Central BankMilei is also pointing the way for people to use whatever form of money they prefer, including Bitcoin, which can already be used to settle contracts in the country.
Another milestone achieved by Bitcoin has been conquering Wall Street institutions and investors, which is seeking SEC approval for a spot ETF to trade directly with the cryptocurrency and has already launched several professional trading announcements on Bitcoin, to attract investors.
Since its creation to date, the price of Bitcoin has grown colossally, exceeding $42.200 per unit.
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