2007
Satoshi Nakamoto... the legend
According to legend, Satoshi Nakamoto began working on the Bitcoin concept in 2007. While he is on record as living in Japan, it is speculated that Nakamoto may be a collective pseudonym for more than one person.
August 15, 2008
An interesting patent application...
Neal Kin, Vladimir Oksman, and Charles Bry file an application for an encryption patent application. All three individuals deny a connection to Satoshi Nakamoto, the alleged originator of the Bitcoin concept.
August 18, 2008
Bitcoin.org is registered
Bitcoin.org is born! The domain was registered at anonymousspeech.com, a site that allows users to anonymously register domain names and currently accepts Bitcoins.
October 31, 2008
The white paper is published
Nakamoto publishes a design paper through a metzdowd.com cryptography mailing list that describes the Bitcoin currency and solves the problem of double spending so as to prevent the currency from being copied.
November 9, 2008
The Bitcoin Project hits SourceForge
The Bitcoin project is registered on SourceForge.net, a community collaboration website focused on the development and distribution of open source software.
January 3, 2009
The Genesis Block is mined
Block 0, the genesis block, is established at 18:15:05 GMT.
History of Bitcoin
The world's first decentralized currency.
2007
Satoshi Nakamoto... the legend
According to legend, Satoshi Nakamoto began working on the Bitcoin concept in 2007. While he is on record as living in Japan, it is speculated that Nakamoto may be a collective pseudonym for more than one person.
August 15, 2008
An interesting patent application...
Neal Kin, Vladimir Oksman, and Charles Bry file an application for an encryption patent application. All three individuals deny a connection to Satoshi Nakamoto, the alleged originator of the Bitcoin concept.
August 18, 2008
Bitcoin.org is registered
Bitcoin.org is born! The domain was registered at anonymousspeech.com, a site that allows users to anonymously register domain names and currently accepts Bitcoins.
October 31, 2008
The white paper is published
Nakamoto publishes a design paper through a metzdowd.com cryptography mailing list that describes the Bitcoin currency and solves the problem of double spending so as to prevent the currency from being copied.
November 9, 2008
The Bitcoin Project hits SourceForge
The Bitcoin project is registered on SourceForge.net, a community collaboration website focused on the development and distribution of open source software.
January 3, 2009
The Genesis Block is mined
Block 0, the genesis block, is established at 18:15:05 GMT.
January 9, 2009
Version 0.1 is released
Version 0.1 of Bitcoin is released. Compiled with Microsoft Visual Studio for Windows, it lacks a command line interface and is so complete that it furthers speculation that it was developed by more than one person (or by an academic with little programming experience and a great deal of theoretical know-how). It includes a Bitcoin generation system that would create a total of 21 million Bitcoins through the year 2040.
January 12, 2009
The first Bitcoin transaction
The first transaction of Bitcoin currency, in block 170, takes place between Satoshi and Hal Finney, a developer and cryptographic activist.
October 5, 2009
An exchange rate is established
New Liberty Standard publishes a Bitcoin exchange rate that establishes the value of a Bitcoin at US$1 = 1,309.03 BTC, using an equation that includes the cost of electricity to run a computer that generated Bitcoins.
May 22, 2010
10,000 BTC spent on pizza
The first, real-world transaction using Bitcoins takes place when a Jacksonville, Florida programmer, Laszlo Hanyecz, offers to pay 10,000 Bitcoins for a pizza on the Bitcoin Forum. At the time, the exchange rate put the purchase price for the pizza at around US$25.
History of Bitcoin
The world's first decentralized currency.
2007
Satoshi Nakamoto... the legend
According to legend, Satoshi Nakamoto began working on the Bitcoin concept in 2007. While he is on record as living in Japan, it is speculated that Nakamoto may be a collective pseudonym for more than one person.
August 15, 2008
An interesting patent application...
Neal Kin, Vladimir Oksman, and Charles Bry file an application for an encryption patent application. All three individuals deny a connection to Satoshi Nakamoto, the alleged originator of the Bitcoin concept.
August 18, 2008
Bitcoin.org is registered
Bitcoin.org is born! The domain was registered at anonymousspeech.com, a site that allows users to anonymously register domain names and currently accepts Bitcoins.
October 31, 2008
The white paper is published
Nakamoto publishes a design paper through a metzdowd.com cryptography mailing list that describes the Bitcoin currency and solves the problem of double spending so as to prevent the currency from being copied.
November 9, 2008
The Bitcoin Project hits SourceForge
The Bitcoin project is registered on SourceForge.net, a community collaboration website focused on the development and distribution of open source software.
January 3, 2009
The Genesis Block is mined
Block 0, the genesis block, is established at 18:15:05 GMT.
January 9, 2009
Version 0.1 is released
Version 0.1 of Bitcoin is released. Compiled with Microsoft Visual Studio for Windows, it lacks a command line interface and is so complete that it furthers speculation that it was developed by more than one person (or by an academic with little programming experience and a great deal of theoretical know-how). It includes a Bitcoin generation system that would create a total of 21 million Bitcoins through the year 2040.
January 12, 2009
The first Bitcoin transaction
The first transaction of Bitcoin currency, in block 170, takes place between Satoshi and Hal Finney, a developer and cryptographic activist.
October 5, 2009
An exchange rate is established
New Liberty Standard publishes a Bitcoin exchange rate that establishes the value of a Bitcoin at US$1 = 1,309.03 BTC, using an equation that includes the cost of electricity to run a computer that generated Bitcoins.
October 12, 2009
#bitcoin-dev hits freenode IRC
The #bitcoin-dev channel is registered on freenode IRC, a discussion network for free and open source development communities.
December 16, 2009
Version 0.2 is released
Version 0.2 of Bitcoin is released.
December 30, 2009
The difficulty increases
The first difficulty increase occurs at 06:11:04 GMT.
February 6, 2010
A currency exchange is born
The Bitcoin Market is established by dwdollar as a Bitcoin currency exchange.
February 18, 2010
Encryption patent is published
The encryption patent application that was filed on August 15, 2008 by Neal Kin, Vladimir Oksman, and Charles Bry was published.
May 22, 2010
10,000 BTC spent on pizza
The first, real-world transaction using Bitcoins takes place when a Jacksonville, Florida programmer, Laszlo Hanyecz, offers to pay 10,000 Bitcoins for a pizza on the Bitcoin Forum. At the time, the exchange rate put the purchase price for the pizza at around US$25.
July 7, 2010
Version 0.3 released
Version 0.3 of Bitcoin is released.
July 11, 2010
Slashdot drives surge in Bitcoin users
Mention of Bitcoin v0.3 on slashdot brings in a large number of new Bitcoin users.
July 12, 2010
Bitcoin value increases tenfold
Over a five day period beginning on July 12, the exchange value of Bitcoin increases ten times from US$0.008/BTC to US$0.080/BTC.
July 17, 2010
MtGox is established
The MtGox Bitcoin currency exchange market is established by Jed McCaleb.
July 18, 2010
OpenGL GPU hash farm and ArtForz
ArtForz establishes an OpenGL GPU hash farm and generates his first Bitcoin block.
September 14, 2010
An offer for CUDA...
An offer is made by jgarzik, in the name of the Bitcoin Store, to puddinpop to open source their Windows-based CUDA client. The offer was in the form of 10,000 BTC which, at the time, was valued at around US$600 to US$650.
November 29, 2013
Bitcoin Black Friday
Bitcoin Black Friday hosts first annual Black Friday event to highlight deals from merchants and businesses accepting Bitcoin.
December 2, 2013
The biggest heist in history
96,000 Bitcoins are stolen from Sheep Marketplace, an online drug site, while the internet watches the thief move the funds wallet to wallet.
January 26, 2014
BitInstant CEO charged with money laundering
Charlie Shrem, CEO of BitInstant is arrested over allegations of money laundering in connection with Silk Road. He is arrested at JFK airport for charges filed in a Manhattan federal court.
January 28, 2014
Charlie Shrem resigns from the Bitcoin Foundation
Charlie Shrem resigns from his position as Vice Chairman of the Bitcoin Foundation.
HOW TO GET BITCOIN ????
Some things you need to know
If you are about to explore Bitcoin, there are a few things you should know. Bitcoin lets you exchange money in a different way than with usual banks. As such, you should take time to inform yourself before using Bitcoin for any serious transaction. Bitcoin should be treated with the same care as your regular wallet, or even more in some cases!
Securing your wallet
Like in real life, your wallet must be secured. Bitcoin makes it possible to transfer value anywhere in a very easy way and it allows you to be in control of your money. Such great features also come with great security concerns. At the same time, Bitcoin can provide very high levels of security if used correctly. Always remember that it is your responsibility to adopt good practices in order to protect your money. Read more about securing your wallet.
Bitcoin price is volatile
The price of a bitcoin can unpredictably increase or decrease over a short period of time due to its young economy, novel nature, and sometimes illiquid markets. Consequently, keeping your savings with Bitcoin is not recommended at this point. Bitcoin should be seen like a high risk asset, and you should never store money that you cannot afford to lose with Bitcoin. If you receive payments with Bitcoin, many service providers can convert them to your local currency.
Bitcoin payments are irreversible
Any transaction issued with Bitcoin cannot be reversed, they can only be refunded by the person receiving the funds. That means you should take care to do business with people and organizations you know and trust, or who have an established reputation. For their part, businesses need to keep control of the payment requests they are displaying to their customers. Bitcoin can detect typos and usually won't let you send money to an invalid address by mistake. Additional services might exist in the future to provide more choice and protection for the consumer.
Bitcoin is not anonymous
Some effort is required to protect your privacy with Bitcoin. All Bitcoin transactions are stored publicly and permanently on the network, which means anyone can see the balance and transactions of any Bitcoin address. However, the identity of the user behind an address remains unknown until information is revealed during a purchase or in other circumstances. This is one reason why Bitcoin addresses should only be used once. Always remember that it is your responsibility to adopt good practices in order to protect your privacy. Read more about protecting your privacy.
Unconfirmed transactions aren't secure
Transactions don't start out as irreversible. Instead, they get a confirmation score that indicates how hard it is to reverse them (see table). Each confirmation takes between a few seconds and 90 minutes, with 10 minutes being the average. If the transaction pays too low a fee or is otherwise atypical, getting the first confirmation can take much longer.
Bitcoin is still experimental
Bitcoin is an experimental new currency that is in active development. Each improvement makes Bitcoin more appealing but also reveals new challenges as Bitcoin adoption grows. During these growing pains you might encounter increased fees, slower confirmations, or even more severe issues. Be prepared for problems and consult a technical expert before making any major investments, but keep in mind that nobody can predict Bitcoin's future.
Government taxes and regulations
Bitcoin is not an official currency. That said, most jurisdictions still require you to pay income, sales, payroll, and capital gains taxes on anything that has value, including bitcoins. It is your responsibility to ensure that you adhere to tax and other legal or regulatory mandates issued by your government and/or local municipalities.
Choose your Bitcoin wallet
Find your wallet and start making payments with merchants and users.
Take time to educate yourself
Bitcoin is different from what you know and use every day. Before you start using Bitcoin for any serious transaction, be sure to read what you need to know and take appropriate steps to secure your wallet. Always remember that it is your responsibility to choose your wallet carefully and adopt good practices in order to protect your money.
Get bitcoins
You can get bitcoins by accepting them as a payment for goods and services or by buying them from a friend or someone near you. You can also buy them directly from an exchange with your bank account.
Spend bitcoins
There is a growing number of services and merchants accepting Bitcoin all over the world. You can use Bitcoin to pay them and rate your experience to help honest businesses to gain more visibility.
How to accept Bitcoin
1. Inform yourself
Bitcoin does not require merchants to change their habits. However, Bitcoin is different than what you know and use every day. Before you start using Bitcoin, there are a few things that you need to know in order to use it securely and avoid common pitfalls.
2. Processing payments
You can process payments and invoices by yourself or you can use merchant services and deposit money in your local currency or bitcoins. Most point of sales businesses use a tablet or a mobile phone to let customers pay with their mobile phones.
3. Accounting and taxes
Merchants often deposit and display prices in their local currency. In other cases, Bitcoin works similarly to a foreign currency. To get appropriate guidance regarding tax compliance for your own jurisdiction, you should contact a qualified accountant.
4. Gaining visibility
There is a growing number of users searching for ways to spend their bitcoins. You can submit your business in online directories to help them easily find you. You can also display the Bitcoin logo on your website or your brick and mortar business.
