On January 3, a significant milestone was commemorated as the first Bitcoin block was mined exactly 17 years ago. This historical moment marked the official launch of Bitcoin as open-source software by its pseudonymous creator, Satoshi Nakamoto. The crypto community came together to celebrate this occasion, with major exchanges, including Coinbase, joining in the festivities. Coinbase shared a series of tweets to honor the anniversary, initially posting a cryptic hash code before adding a celebratory message that read, “Happy birthday bitcoin.”
The inception of the Bitcoin network was particularly noteworthy, as it commenced when Nakamoto mined the Bitcoin genesis block on January 3, 2009. This inaugural block famously contained the message, “The Times 03/Jan/2009 Chancellor on brink of second bailout for banks,” referencing a headline from The Times newspaper, which emphasized the financial turmoil of the era.
Prior to this groundbreaking event, Nakamoto laid the groundwork for Bitcoin with the release of the Bitcoin white paper in October 2008. The document, titled “Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System,” was shared on a cryptography mailing list on October 31, marking the introduction of Bitcoin’s innovative concept. The domain name bitcoin.org was registered shortly before this, on August 18, 2008.
Another key moment in Bitcoin’s emergence occurred on January 12, when Hal Finney received the first transaction of Bitcoin from Nakamoto. This transaction is often celebrated as the beginning of Bitcoin’s practical application.
Fast forward to the present day, Bitcoin has transitioned into a trillion-dollar asset, drawing considerable institutional interest. Recent statistics reveal that on January 2, spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded a staggering total of $471 million in net inflows, with BlackRock’s IBIT leading the charge at $287 million.
As of the latest reports, Bitcoin was trading at approximately $90,007. This figure comes on the heels of Bitcoin reaching an all-time high of $126,198 in October 2025. Notably, Bitcoin has managed to maintain its position above the $90,000 mark for two consecutive days after briefly falling below this threshold in December. Following a significant sell-off in October, Bitcoin has settled into a trading range of about $85,000 to $95,000. With the new year underway, bullish investors are making concerted efforts to push Bitcoin beyond this range.
