The History of Cryptocurrency

Satoshi Nakamoto published “Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System,” describing a peer-to-peer electronic cash system based on cryptographic proof rather than a trusted intermediary.

Bitcoin block 0 established the starting point of the blockchain. Its timestamp records January 3, 2009.

Block 210,000 reduced the mining subsidy from 50 BTC to 25 BTC per block, following Bitcoin's programmed issuance schedule.

Same-day moves: Bitcoin +1.70%

Mt. Gox, once the largest Bitcoin exchange by trading volume, filed for bankruptcy protection in Tokyo after reporting that 750,000 customer bitcoins and 100,000 of its own were missing. The exchange later said it had located 200,000 BTC in an old wallet.

Same-day moves: Litecoin -5.60% , Bitcoin -5.60%

The Frontier release created the Ethereum mainnet and enabled public block production and smart-contract execution.

Same-day moves: Stellar -55.60% , Litecoin -4.10%

An attacker exploited recursive calls in The DAO contracts and diverted about 3.6 million ETH, leading to a state-changing recovery fork; the unforked chain continued as Ethereum Classic.

Same-day moves: Ethereum -25.60% , Bitcoin -2.90%

Block 420,000 reduced the mining subsidy from 25 BTC to 12.5 BTC per block, lowering the rate of new bitcoin issuance.

Same-day moves: XRP +4.80% , Ethereum -4.10%

Incompatible consensus rules produced a separate chain known as Bitcoin Cash. Bitcoin continued under its existing transaction-history rules.

Same-day moves: Ethereum +12.50% , Stellar +11.90%

Cash-settled Bitcoin futures began trading on CME Globex, settled using the CME CF Bitcoin Reference Rate — the first regulated US derivatives market referencing bitcoin.

Same-day moves: Bitcoin Cash +17.70% , Neo +14.70%

Bitcoin and other cryptoassets fell sharply on March 12, 2020, as COVID-19 concerns drove a broad rush to liquidity across global markets. Bitcoin fell about 40% intraday, while ether, XRP, and other cryptoassets also recorded double-digit declines.

Same-day moves: Kava -56.90% , Fantom -56.30%

Block 630,000 reduced the mining subsidy from 12.5 BTC to 6.25 BTC per block, again slowing new issuance per the programmed schedule.

Same-day moves: Fantom +10.80% , Kava -5.30%

PayPal announced that US customers would be able to buy, hold, and sell select cryptocurrencies (including Litecoin) directly through its mainstream payments platform, extending crypto access well beyond existing exchange users.

Same-day moves: Injective +95.10% , Filecoin -14.90%

The US SEC filed a civil action alleging that certain XRP sales were unregistered securities offerings, opening a multi-year legal case that shaped how the industry approached token-sale compliance.

Same-day moves: Injective +34.30% , XRP -13.30%

China's Financial Stability and Development Committee called for a crackdown on Bitcoin mining and trading on May 21, 2021. Provincial shutdowns followed, and Cambridge data later showed China's reported share of Bitcoin hashrate fell to zero in July.

Same-day moves: Fantom -21.30% , Injective -20.80%

El Salvador's Bitcoin Law took effect, granting Bitcoin legal-tender status alongside the US dollar and establishing rules for accepting and converting Bitcoin payments — the first national legal-tender adoption.

Same-day moves: NEAR Protocol +42.20% , Dent -24.60%

TerraUSD (UST) lost its US dollar peg on May 9, 2022, and redemptions rapidly expanded LUNA's supply as both tokens fell. Luna Foundation Guard sold bitcoin reserves in an unsuccessful effort to restore the peg, and losses spread to firms exposed to the Terra ecosystem.

Same-day moves: STEPN -34.90% , Kava -22.90%

A British Virgin Islands court ordered Three Arrows Capital into liquidation on June 27, 2022, after the fund defaulted on lender obligations. Celsius Network, which had paused customer withdrawals on June 12, filed for Chapter 11 on July 13 as defaults and withdrawals strained crypto lenders and brokers.

Same-day moves: Synapse -11.80% , STEPN +5.40%

Ethereum replaced proof-of-work block production with proof-of-stake by merging mainnet with the Beacon Chain, ending PoW mining on the network and cutting its energy use by an estimated ~99.9%.

Same-day moves: Ethereum -10.10% , Synapse -7.40%

FTX and affiliated entities filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy amid a public liquidity crisis, triggering a broad selloff and repricing of counterparty and exchange risk across the market.

Same-day moves: Avalanche -8.30% , NEAR Protocol -7.90%

The US SEC filed complaints against major exchanges covering a range of token listings, including allegations that certain BNB offers and sales violated securities laws — part of a wider 2023 enforcement push against exchanges and listed tokens.

Same-day moves: Pepe -16.30% , Sui -14.90%

A US federal court held that programmatic XRP sales on exchanges did not constitute investment-contract sales, while certain direct institutional sales did — a widely cited early ruling on token-sale securities analysis.

Same-day moves: XRP +73.10% , Stellar +61.50%

The SEC approved exchange proposals to list multiple spot Bitcoin exchange-traded products, which began trading the next day — the first US spot-crypto ETP approval.

Same-day moves: Dent +13.60% , Zcash +13.40%

Block 840,000 reduced the mining subsidy from 6.25 BTC to 3.125 BTC per block, continuing Bitcoin's programmed issuance reductions.

Same-day moves: Worldcoin +14.20% , Ordinals +13.00%

The SEC approved exchange rule changes enabling spot ether exchange-traded products, which began trading on US exchanges that July — extending spot-crypto ETP access beyond Bitcoin.

Same-day moves: Ondo Finance +14.90% , Pepe +11.70%

A spot Solana exchange-traded product was approved for listing under US generic listing standards and began trading on NYSE Arca, extending regulated spot-crypto ETP access to a third asset.

Same-day moves: Audiera -67.00% , Unibase +10.00%

A US registration statement for an exchange-traded product holding spot XRP became effective and began trading on NYSE Arca, extending regulated spot-crypto ETP access to a fourth asset.

Same-day moves: SkyAI -59.40% , Audiera +11.70%