The story of the most popular digital asset created by Satoshi Nakamoto began years ago, back in 2010, and since then the asset has shown a crazy increase in value. In the past decade, this digital currency grew in price at a frantic pace, although in 2010 it was used to buy several pizzas, and has since inspired the creation of many other cryptocurrencies.
On May 22, the cryptocurrency world celebrates the anniversary of Bitcoin Pizza Day. On this day in 2010, Czech enthusiast Lazlo Hanesh made the first financial operation using crypto called bitcoin. Hanesh transferred 10,000 bitcoins to his developer friend, who ordered him two pizzas from Papa John’s restaurant. Then one bitcoin cost about $0.003 (thus, pizzas cost the Czech $30).
However, if you had clicked the bitcoin payment button in 2010 and purchased $1,000 worth of crypto assets, you would have received at least 927,693% growth in 2022! In other words, a thousand US dollars in 2010 invested in bitcoin in 2022 would turn into $927 million. Those who invested 1000 in Bitcoin are certainly happy they’ve done so. But when did Bitcoin start and what was Bitcoin’s starting price?
BTC mining began in 2009. However, Bitcoin was not sold anywhere. Back then, there were no cryptocurrency exchanges at all. Technically, the price of bitcoin in 2009 was $0. Throughout 2010, bitcoin did not manage to reach the $1 mark, but the price had already begun to rise.
The lucky ones who bought bitcoins in 2010 could not fully realize the potential of the crypto coins. Until 2017, the growth rate of bitcoin did not give reason to assume that Bitcoin’s rise would lead to cosmic growth. The process of global adoption of crypto began after 2017 and was triggered by a sharp rise in bitcoin.
Between May 1, 2017 and April 1, 2018, the main cryptocurrency has risen in price by almost 5000%. This happened against the backdrop of an increase in the popularity of a new way to raise funds – ICO. IPO projects have raised millions of dollars, often without even a minimum viable product. During the same period, CME launched Bitcoin futures trading.
Every year, the number of Americans hearing about bitcoin has grown exponentially, including the many people who’ve actually bought bitcoin. According to explodingtopics.com, in 2022 most people in the US (more than 89% of the population) have heard of bitcoin. At the same time, the number of blockchain wallets as of the beginning of 2022 has increased to 80 million
The value of the Bitcoin
The main digital asset burst into the global economic and financial arena thanks in large part to individual traders. Large companies and hedge funds helped to reach a new level of BTC, which saw their benefits and potential in cryptocurrencies. What was this value?
It is important to remember that when bitcoin appeared, blockchain technology also appeared. These two technologies are inextricably linked and help each other get better. Blockchain algorithms and protocols work best in the first cryptocurrency. Given the value of digital assets and the technologies on which it is based, six core values can be identified:
Decentralization – Bitcoin technology has allowed us to avoid tight control over the use of cryptocurrency and put more power in the hands of the user community. In 2022, this is a key advantage of the new generation of digital assets, but for the first time this was implemented as part of the Bitcoin project.
Security – The Bitcoin network remains virtually immune to hacker attacks. Blockchain technology plays a significant role here, due to which, in order to access the information of the BTC network, it is necessary to control at least 50% of mining, which is an almost impossible task.
Mining or extraction of BTC is distributed among numerous companies that are geographically located in different parts of the world. Therefore, the Bitcoin network is a much more secure place than any physical storage. Wild west of crypto mining explained how exactly mining caused on BTC/USD price.
Scarcity – according to the original algorithms, the total supply of BTC is limited to 21 million coins. Computing processes are designed in such a way that the last coin will be mined no earlier than 2140. Crypto has more value than fiat means of payment. Eventually, the digital asset will become completely deflationary, causing its value to rise significantly. Due to this property of the coin, the term HODL appeared, which means long-term storage with the aim of making a profit by increasing the fundamental value of the asset.
What will happen with bitcoin in 2022?
In 2021, Bitcoin became the most profitable financial instrument, surpassing the S&P 500 trading index, which showed the best result in three years. Also, the digital coins bypassed real estate and oil in terms of profitability. Gold finished 2021 in the red by 2%, in which BTC played an important role. Therefore, a fashionable topic for discussion is “what better protects against inflation Bitcoin or gold?” may be considered closed.
Despite the yield in the region of 60%, the cryptocurrency did not justify all the advances that it received in the fall of 2021. Leading experts like Bloomberg analyst M. McGlone and S2F model developer have said that bitcoin will end 2021 at around $120k. Leading banking conglomerates JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs were also confident that Bitcoin price would cross the $100k mark. But in reality, the digital asset hit a painful correction that the market is still feeling.
Although this should not be taken as definitive investment advice for your personal finance ventures, among the global forecasts for Bitcoin, it is worth highlighting the statement of Bloomberg expert McGlone. The analyst believes that the main cryptocurrency will reach $100k in 2022 due to a gradual change in the role in the financial system and a significant decrease in volatility.
The CEO of cryptobank SEBA is less optimistic in his forecasts, and believes that the asset is capable of reaching $75k by the end of 2022.
Is it too late to invest in Bitcoin?
If I didn’t invest 1000 in Bitcoin in 2010, is it too late now? Yes and no. On the one hand, Bitcoin is already worth too much (not counting the transaction costs), so it is no longer possible to get a million percent of the net worth profit.
On the other hand, despite finding great success over the last decade, the main crypto assets is only at the initial stage of its formation. Bitcoin is now at the adoption level of the Internet in 1996.
In other words, cryptos have a great future and there is no doubt that if in 2022 you invest a thousand dollars in this cryptocurrency during the bear market, then after 2-3 years you will be able to get at least 100% profit.
Bitcoin has not yet found itself as a full-fledged means of payment. Large hedge funds continue to be interested in the asset, and the emergence of state regulation will increase investment flows in BTC. Therefore, there is no doubt that the digital assets has room to grow and develop, so buying BTC/USD is still a good deal in the long run.
