2008 → today
Bitcoin timeline
Not a price chart, but a sequence of decisions, failures and events that changed the network.The white paper
Satoshi describes electronic cash without a trusted intermediary.
The network begins
The genesis block, early nodes and the transfer to Hal Finney.
Bitcoin acquires a price
A market, pizza, GPU mining and the first critical failure.
Growth brings new risks
Wallet theft and collapsing trust in early venues.
Rules become more formal
The BIP process and the lessons of repeated Bitcoinica breaches.
The chain splits
Miners coordinate to restore a compatible shared history.
The scaling dispute
SegWit changes transaction structure; Lightning moves to the foreground.
The third halving
The block subsidy falls to 6.25 BTC.
The fourth halving
The block subsidy falls to 3.125 BTC.
Institutions and mature code
State reserves, responsible disclosures and new custody questions.