Bitcoin turns 17

On January 3, 2009, the first cryptocurrency was born. That day, the genesis block was mined the very first block of the Bitcoin blockchain, marking the start of a new financial era.
Bitcoin s anonymous creator, Satoshi Nakamoto, embedded a hidden message in this block:
Chancellor on brink of second bailout for banks a headline from The Times referencing government bank bailouts after the 2008 financial crisis.
The message was more than symbolism. It highlighted Bitcoin s core idea: an alternative to the traditional financial system, where governments and central banks rescue institutions at taxpayers expense.
The reward for the genesis block was 50 BTC coins that had no market value at the time. Today, Bitcoin trades near 90,000 and ranks among the top 8 largest assets in the world, behind only gold, silver, and major tech stocks.
From an experiment to a global asset happy birthday, Bitcoin