The Bitcoin Whitepaper, A peer-to-peer electronic cash system.
Released on October 31, 2008, in the midst of the global financial crisis, the nine-page document laid the foundation for what would become the world’s first cryptocurrency.
The whitepaper outlines a vision for a decentralized, peer-to-peer financial system built on cryptographic proof rather than trust in third-party intermediaries. Its purpose is to eliminate the problem of double spending and enable online transactions without relying on banks or other trusted third parties. “We recommend a system for electronic transactions without relying on trust,” Satoshi wrote.
Seventeen years later, Bitcoin’s influence has reached far beyond the Cypherpunk forums where it began. The anniversary comes as the US Bitcoin ETF area in less than two years of existence has experienced unprecedented success, seeing total net inflows of more than $62 billion and total net assets of more than $150 billion, according to Sosovalue data.
But Bitcoin’s mainstream acceptance extends beyond Wall Street. It has now permeated the highest levels of government, including the White House under the current US administration.
Some of Bitcoin’s most outspoken critics have become its biggest advocates. In 2021, former President Donald Trump dismissed Bitcoin as a “scam against the dollar.But with the 2024 presidential election, he urges supporters to “don’t sell your bitcoin” and goes on to sign an executive order establishing a Bitcoin Strategic Reserve.
Larry Fink, CEO of BlackRock The world’s largest asset manager called Bitcoin as “Money laundering index. Today, he champions it as one of his firm’s most successful ETF products and views it as a hedge against sovereign debt volatility.
Also, Michael Saylor, Strategy’s unheralded CEO, has been one of Bitcoin’s most persistent evangelists, continuing to raise BTC through stock and debt offerings. Saylor himself began as a skeptic, once declaring, “Bitcoin’s days are numbered. It seems only a matter of time before it suffers the same fate as online gambling.”
The last major holdout among prominent financial figures remains JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon, who has consistently voiced doubts about Bitcoin’s value and sustainability. His bank, however, has moved wholeheartedly into the sector, including recently allowing clients to pledge Bitcoin as collateral.
Bitcoin’s financialization through ETFs and corporate treasury adoption has drawn comparisons to the mortgage securitization boom of the 1970s, a period that saw property prices sink to new heights.
However this evolution did not please everyone. Many early believers of Bitcoin have argued that its very ethos, a form of currency outside of state control, has been diluted by institutional adoption.
For the Cypherpunk movement that birthed Bitcoin, the system’s embrace of Wall Street and Washington felt like a paradox: a rebellion driven by the establishment it once sought to disrupt.
Just what is bitcoin and will it survive?
On an annual basis, the average transaction fee per bitcoin block fell to its lowest level since 2010, raising concerns about the long-term sustainability of the network. Low fees, while attractive for users, reduce incentives for miners who secure the network, especially as block rewards continue to freeze every four years.
Originally envisioned as a peer-to-peer electronic cash system, Bitcoin has become increasingly aware of the “store of value” narrative. “Don’t sell your bitcoin,” is a common refrain from Michael Saylor to the Trump family and many voices in between.
At the same time, the controversy continues within the developer community especially between Bitcoin Core and Bitcoin knots over whether the network should allow non-financial data such as ordinals or implement stricter rules to block it. Some see such restrictions as necessary to maintain the integrity of the network, while others view them as a form of censorship that changes the open and permissionless nature of Bitcoin.
Beyond internal debates, the looming question of quantum computing also poses an unresolved risk. The potential for future quantum machines to break existing cryptographic standards could threaten the security of Bitcoin, which does not yet have a definitive solution in place.
“There’s no doubt that Bitcoin has arrived, Wall Street has embraced it, and its long streak above $100,000 proves that,” Bitcoin OG Nicholas Gregory said recently. “Its transition from peer-to-peer cash to a store of value is self-evident,” he continued. “It remains to be seen where it goes in the long term. I, for one, think its narrative as a medium of exchange is key to its eternal place, with solutions to the threat of quantity.”
