A One-Minute Guide to the True History of Cryptocurrency

🟠 Origins of Cypherpunks
In 1993, Eric Hughes published the "Cypherpunk Manifesto," advocating for the use of cryptographic technology to defend personal privacy and resist systemic surveillance.
🟠 Early Experiments
In the 1990s, electronic currency concepts like DigiCash and B-money emerged one after another, but all failed to sustain due to reliance on centralized architectures.
🟠 Birth of Bitcoin
On October 31, 2008, Satoshi Nakamoto published the white paper "Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System," laying the foundation for decentralized digital currency.
🟠 Genesis Block
On January 3, 2009, the Bitcoin network officially launched, with the first block containing the title "The Second Bailout of the Banks," metaphorically highlighting the plight of traditional financial systems.
🟠 First Physical Transaction
On May 22, 2010, programmer Hanyecz bought two pizzas with 10,000 bitcoins, forming the first recognized exchange rate: approximately 0.004 USD per bitcoin.
🟠 Dark Web Catalyst
From 2011 to 2013, platforms like Silk Road used Bitcoin for anonymous transactions, promoting early circulation and triggering regulatory and technological upgrades.
🟠 Era of Smart Contracts
In 2014, Vitalik Buterin created Ethereum and introduced programmable smart contracts, expanding blockchain application scenarios.
🟠 ICO Frenzy
In 2017, the Ethereum ERC-20 standard simplified token issuance, sparking the first token issuance bubble, with thousands of projects raising over $20 billion.
🟠 Bull Market Peak
In 2017, Bitcoin's price approached $19,000, with a total market cap exceeding $300 billion, making the "blockchain revolution" a global focus.
🟠 Regulatory Tightening
In 2018, many countries cracked down on ICO chaos, with the market dropping over 80%, and the industry entering a period of adjustment.
🟠 Institutional Adoption
Starting in 2020, publicly listed companies like MicroStrategy and Tesla incorporated Bitcoin into their asset allocations, promoting compliance.
🟠 Ecosystem Explosion
In 2021, Bitcoin surpassed $68,000, with the total cryptocurrency market cap exceeding $3 trillion, and innovative applications like DeFi and NFTs flourishing.
🟠 Crisis and Rebirth
In 2022, events like the Luna crash and FTX bankruptcy occurred one after another, causing Bitcoin to fall to $16,000, and the market entered a winter period, beginning a new cycle.
🧩 Cryptocurrencies are a product of the intertwining of cryptographic idealism and financial speculative frenzy
They aim to solve core issues of traditional finance: centralized trust costs, cross-border payment barriers, and currency devaluation due to excessive issuance.
However, over more than a decade of development, the ideal of decentralization has continually compromised reality: Bitcoin evolved from "peer-to-peer electronic cash" to "digital gold"; Ethereum shifted back to proof of stake for scalability; exchanges became the de facto new centers.
More importantly, human nature in finance has never changed: leverage, speculation, Ponzi schemes, and regulatory arbitrage reappear in more extreme forms in the cryptocurrency market.