Bitcoin Timeline
Tags: history, timeline, events
Pre-Bitcoin: Cypherpunk Era
| Year | Event |
|---|
| 1988 | Timothy May writes Crypto Anarchist Manifesto (distributed at “Crypto 88” conference) |
| 1989 | David Chaum launches DigiCash / eCash — first digital cash with blind signatures |
| 1991 | Philip Zimmermann creates PGP — first mass-market encryption |
| 1992 | Cypherpunks mailing list founded (Eric Hughes, Tim May, John Gilmore) |
| 1993 | Eric Hughes publishes Cypherpunks Manifesto |
| 1997 | Adam Back invents Hashcash (PoW anti-spam system) |
| 1998 | DigiCash declares bankruptcy — trusted central mint fails |
| 1998 | Wei Dai publishes b-money proposal |
| 1998–2005 | Nick Szabo develops Bit Gold concept |
| 2004 | Hal Finney releases RPOW — transferable PoW tokens |
See pre-bitcoin-cypherpunks] and genesis-files].
Bitcoin’s Creation and Early Years
| Date | Event |
|---|
| Aug 18, 2008 | bitcoin.org domain registered |
| Oct 31, 2008 | Bitcoin whitepaper published to cryptography mailing list |
| Jan 3, 2009 | Genesis block mined by Satoshi Nakamoto; embedded headline: “Chancellor on brink of second bailout for banks” |
| Jan 9, 2009 | Bitcoin v0.1 released on SourceForge |
| Jan 12, 2009 | First Bitcoin transaction: Satoshi → Hal Finney (10 BTC) |
| Oct 5, 2009 | First Bitcoin exchange rate: $1 = 1,309 BTC (New Liberty Standard) |
| May 22, 2010 | Bitcoin Pizza Day: Laszlo Hanyecz pays 10,000 BTC for 2 pizzas — first real-world commerce |
| Aug 15, 2010 | Value overflow bug: exploit creates 184 billion BTC; fixed in hours by community |
| Jan 2011 | Silk Road launches — first major Bitcoin marketplace |
| Apr 2011 | Satoshi’s final known message (email to Gavin Andresen); disappears from public |
Macro-Financial Context
| Date | Event | Bitcoin Relevance |
|---|
| Aug 15, 1971 | Nixon Shock: USD-gold link severed | Fiat era begins; Bitcoin’s purpose crystallized |
| 1974 | US-Saudi petrodollar deal | USD reserve currency cemented via oil pricing |
| 2008 | Global Financial Crisis | Direct catalyst for Bitcoin creation |
Scaling Debate (2015–2017)
See blocksize-war] and blocksize-war] for detailed account.
| Date | Event |
|---|
| 2015 | Block size debate intensifies; Bitcoin XT proposed (hard fork, 8MB blocks) |
| Jun 2015 | Scaling Bitcoin 2015 Phase 1 conference, Montreal |
| Aug 2015 | Mike Hearn announces secret miner/developer channel at a conference |
| Feb 2016 | Hong Kong Roundtable: miners and developers meet secretly; miners agree to hard fork, then back out |
| Apr 2016 | Bitcoin Classic (2MB hard fork) loses momentum |
| Apr 2017 | ASICBoost controversy: Bitmain’s covert optimization incompatible with SegWit |
| May 2017 | New York Agreement signed by 58 companies (Segwit + 2MB hard fork) |
| Aug 1, 2017 | UASF (BIP148) activates; SegWit forced through user pressure |
| Aug 1, 2017 | Bitcoin Cash hard fork (8MB blocks; Roger Ver, Jihan Wu) |
| Aug 24, 2017 | SegWit activates on Bitcoin mainnet |
| Nov 2017 | SegWit2x cancelled due to community opposition |
Protocol Upgrades
Key Events: People
| Date | Event |
|---|
| Jan 2012 | Hal Finney diagnosed with ALS |
| Oct 2013 | Silk Road shut down; Ross Ulbricht arrested (later sentenced to life) |
| Mar 2013 | Hal Finney’s final forum post: “Bitcoin and Me” |
| Mar 2013 | Chain split: v0.7 vs v0.8 conflict; community resolves within hours |
| May 2015 | Ross Ulbricht sentenced to life in prison (two life sentences + 40 years) |
| Aug 2014 | Hal Finney dies; cryopreserved at Alcor |
| 2016 | Craig Wright publicly claims to be Satoshi Nakamoto; exposed as fraud |
| Apr 2024 | Samourai Wallet developers Keonne Rodriguez and William Hill arrested by DOJ |
Halvings
| Date | Block | Reward |
|---|
| Jan 2009 | 0 (genesis) | 50 BTC |
| Nov 28, 2012 | 210,000 | 25 BTC |
| Jul 9, 2016 | 420,000 | 12.5 BTC |
| May 11, 2020 | 630,000 | 6.25 BTC |
| Apr 19, 2024 | 840,000 | 3.125 BTC |
| ~2028 | 1,050,000 | 1.5625 BTC |
Sources
Synthesized from multiple sources in the 21ideas.org raw/ library. No single canonical source article.
Glossary | Bitcoin | halvings | SegWit | Taproot | Satoshi Nakamoto | Hal Finney | cypherpunks | fiat
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