Bitcoin: 15 Years at a Glance
Since the inception of Bitcoin as protocol in 2009, the awareness of Bitcoin in the world has grown steadily.
The following timeline consists of arbitrarily chosen 4-year periods. The timeline tries to give an idea on the state of Bitcoin-awareness for most people today (end of 2024). Disclaimer: this is just a “back of the envelope” timeline primarily drawn from my own observation and research. The aim here is to get you up to speed on where Bitcoin stands in terms of adoption with the general public.
till 2008. Up till 2008, virtually nobody had heard about Internet Money. Not in the last place because it had not been invented yet. Nevertheless, in the decades leading up to 2008, people called “cypherpunks” where trying hard to design working protocols for Internet Money. In 2008, a person/group of persons who called themselves Satoshi Nakamoto, published a whitepaper called “Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System“.
2009 – 2013. Bitcoin, as protocol for Internet Money, was created in 2009. In the years that followed, almost nobody heard about either Internet Money or Bitcoin. Bitcoin was something for “computer nerds”. In small circles, bitcoin started to be used as money.
Personal note: I heard about Bitcoin for the first time in a Dutch TV-documentary at end of 2013. I put Bitcoin in the box “interesting, will look at it later”, where it sat idle for 4 years…)
2013 – 2017. This is the period during which Bitcoin, at least as word, gets some traction. At the end of 2017, the word Bitcoin reaches the masses when the financial world and mainstream media repeatedly report about the staggering price increases and all-time-highs of bitcoin. Bitcoin becomes as word associated with a ponzi scheme, tulip mania and “Bitcoin will soon die”. In this period, there is a lot of spillover to other crypto-coins, or copy-cats of Bitcoin, adding to the misunderstanding of what Bitcoin is.
Personal note: I came across Bitcoin again during the “crypto craze” at the end of 2017. I did some research and found the copy-cats of Bitcoin even cooler than the “much older” Bitcoin. After my coins had lost much of their value during the sell-off, I lost my interest. This time, I put Bitcoin in the “undefined box” where it sat idle another 3 years…
2017-2021. Beginning of 2018, when the price of bitcoin falls off a cliff, the word Bitcoin disappears for most people. Mainstream media reports that Bitcoin is dead. Only in 2020 and 2021, when bitcoin reaches new all time highs, some people hear about Bitcoin again. It probably did not make much impact to most of them, because again Bitcoin was primarily highlighted in a price-chart. By now, bitcoin has become something which fluctuates in value and is something along the lines of crypto-trading or straight-out gambling.
Personal note: While trying to get a better understanding about the way the world economy works, my attention is drawn to Bitcoin again at the end of 2020 when it passes its previous all time of end 2017. This time I decide to take the deep dive in order to finally get a better understanding of Bitcoin.
2021 – now. In this latest period, more people start to have have an opinion about Bitcoin. Mainstream media reports that Bitcoin’s huge power consumption threatens the world. That Bitcoin is money for criminals. That Bitcoin can be stolen by hackers. That Bitcoin is still “a solution looking for a problem”. In 2017, people learnt that bitcoin would soon die as yet another ponzi scheme or tulip mania. Now, increasingly, people understand Bitcoin is still around. Some even hear that Bitcoin will not go away, even though they may not be able to verify this claim based on their limited knowledge. And again, in March 2024, Bitcoin reaches a new all time high.
Personal note: Since I started learning about Bitcoin at the end of 2020, I found out Bitcoin can be looked upon from many angles. I also found out that Bitcoin does not resonate well with many people. I have focused on the subject “Money” quite a bit over the past few years. Explaining people about money while mentioning Bitcoin in the same conversation often does not work. This is the reason why the website HeartMoney.org, which is all about money, does not mention the word Bitcoin at all.
Outlook. While misunderstanding about Bitcoin is still very high, it seems people slowly but surely start to understand that this Bitcoin-thing is not going away. And since Bitcoin is indeed not going away, people will come across it again and again. Only time will tell how the path of awareness will evolve into understanding for each of us.