Bitcoin timeline

All events, in order

1. Oct 31, 2008launch
   Bitcoin whitepaper published
   Satoshi Nakamoto shares the Bitcoin paper on a cryptography mailing list.
2. Jan 3, 2009launch
   Genesis block mined
   The Bitcoin network starts with block 0.
3. May 22, 2010milestone
   Bitcoin Pizza Day
   Laszlo Hanyecz pays 10,000 BTC for two pizzas, the first well known real world purchase.
4. Nov 28, 2012milestone
   First halving $12.22 (Bitstamp BTC/USD daily close, 2012-11-28)
   At block 210,000 the block reward drops from 50 to 25 BTC.
5. Feb 24, 2014crash
   Mt. Gox collapses $535.49 (Bitstamp BTC/USD daily close, 2014-02-24)
   The largest bitcoin exchange goes dark after losing hundreds of thousands of coins.
6. Jul 9, 2016milestone
   Second halving $647.78 (Bitstamp BTC/USD daily close, 2016-07-09)
   At block 420,000 the reward falls from 25 to 12.5 BTC.
7. Aug 1, 2017fork
   Bitcoin Cash hard fork $2,731 (Bitstamp BTC/USD daily close, 2017-08-01)
   A group wanting bigger blocks splits off and creates Bitcoin Cash.
8. Aug 24, 2017upgrade
   SegWit activates $4,300 (Bitstamp BTC/USD daily close, 2017-08-24)
   Segregated Witness, a soft fork, goes live at block 481,824.
9. Dec 16, 2017rally
   2017 peak $19,188 (Bitstamp BTC/USD daily close, 2017-12-16)
   Bitcoin ends the 2017 mania at its highest close of the year.
10. Mar 12, 2020crash
    Black Thursday crash $4,842 (Bitstamp BTC/USD daily close, 2020-03-12)
    Bitcoin falls by about half in a day as COVID panic hits every market.
11. May 11, 2020milestone
    Third halving $8,572 (Bitstamp BTC/USD daily close, 2020-05-11)
    At block 630,000 the reward falls from 12.5 to 6.25 BTC.
12. Nov 14, 2021upgrade
    Taproot activates $65,510 (Bitstamp BTC/USD daily close, 2021-11-14)
    The Taproot soft fork goes live at block 709,632.
13. Nov 11, 2022crash
    FTX collapse $17,007 (Bitstamp BTC/USD daily close, 2022-11-11)
    FTX files for bankruptcy and bitcoin drops to a two year low.
14. Jan 10, 2024legal
    Spot bitcoin ETFs approved $46,681 (Bitstamp BTC/USD daily close, 2024-01-10)
    The SEC approves the first US spot bitcoin exchange traded products.
15. Apr 20, 2024milestone
    Fourth halving $64,990 (Bitstamp BTC/USD daily close, 2024-04-20)
    At block 840,000 the reward falls from 6.25 to 3.125 BTC.

Years

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Updated Oct 14, 2026