Bitcoin reaches record high of US$100,000 amid expectations for the Trump government (and 7 other wild moments in its history) #CriptoNews

The $100,000 milestone sparked celebrations from cryptocurrency fans around the world.

Bitcoin’s wildly fluctuating value has always attracted interest, with its supporters reacting with joy when it surpasses previous price thresholds and with defiance during its declines.

But this particular milestone was especially anticipated.

For weeks, charts, memes and predictions have circulated on social media about when the price would reach the figure considered one of the holy grails of the cryptocurrency world.

Millions of viewers even tuned into online viewing parties as the price hovered around $100,000.

The value of a single bitcoin is one of the barometers of optimism in the cryptocurrency industry, which is now estimated to be worth $3.3 trillion, according to analytics firm Coin Market Cap.

Trump’s election victory last month was the catalyst for the latest surge.

The president-elect has promised to make the US “the crypto capital of the planet,” a notable shift considering that just three years ago he called bitcoin a “scam.”

It is also notable how its price has skyrocketed.

A valuation of $100,000 represents a 40% increase since US Election Day and more than double the price at which the year started.

But bitcoin is much more than the dizzying changes in its value.

From its enigmatic inventor to the fall of the so-called King of Cryptocurrencies, it is a story with many twists and turns, which has seen the creation (and loss) of enormous fortunes.

So here’s the BBC’s list of the seven wildest moments (so far) in bitcoin’s tumultuous history.

Despite its enormous popularity, no one knows for sure who invented bitcoin. The idea arose on Internet forums in 2008 from someone who called himself Satoshi Nakamoto.

He explained how a peer-to-peer digital money system could work to allow people to send virtual currencies over the internet as easily as sending an email.

Satoshi devised a complex computer system that would process transactions and create new currencies using a huge network of self-proclaimed volunteers around the world using special software and powerful computers.

But he – or they – have never revealed their identity. And the world has never discovered it.

In 2014, the Japanese American Dorian Nakamoto He was pursued by journalists who thought he was the elusive creator of bitcoin, but it turned out to be a false trail caused by poorly translated information.

In 2016, Australian computer scientist Craig Wright said he was Satoshi, but after years of legal battles, a High Court judge concluded he was not.

Earlier this year, a Canadian bitcoin expert named Peter Todd flatly denied being Satoshi, while this past month in London, Briton Stephen Mollah claimed he was, but no one believed him.

Bitcoin is the foundation of a $2 trillion cryptocurrency industry, but the first recorded transaction in which it was used was the purchase of a pizza.

On May 22, 2010, Lazlo Hanyecz offered US$41 in bitcoin on a cryptocurrency forum in exchange for two pizzas.

A 19-year-old student accepted and the day went down in history for coin fans as the day of the #BitcoinPizza.

It was a source of memes for members of the cryptocurrency community and also showed the power of bitcoin, an internet currency that could actually purchase items virtually.

Criminals must have also been watching the phenomenon, because in less than a year the first market of the deep web who sold drugs and other illegal products in exchange for bitcoins.

The deal Lazlo made now looks pretty bad for him. If I had kept those coins, they would now be worth hundreds of millions of dollars!

In September 2021, the president of El Salvador, Nayib Bukele converted bitcoin into legal tender.

Hair salons, supermarkets and other stores had to accept bitcoin by law along with their main currency, the US dollar.

Many bitcoin enthusiasts and journalists visited the country, briefly boosting tourism.

Although Bukele hoped the measure would increase investment in his country and reduce costs for citizens exchanging money, it did not become as popular as he expected.

He’s still waiting for it to take off, but for now the US dollar remains king in the country.

In addition to the enormous amount of public money Bukele spent trying to get people to adopt bitcoin, he also controversially purchased more than 6,000 bitcoins in recent years.

The president He spent at least US$120 million buying bitcoins at different prices in the hope of obtaining benefits for his countrywhich is experiencing economic difficulties.

Things started going well for him in December 2023, when, for the first time, the value of his stash skyrocketed.

A website created by Dutch software engineer Elias Zerrouq is tracking the country’s bitcoin holdings and currently estimates that the coins have increased in value by 98%.

In 2021, Kazakhstan became a hotspot for bitcoin mining, the process of performing the complex calculations that underpin cryptocurrency transactions.

Currently, You need warehouses full of state-of-the-art computers that run all day and all night, but the reward is new bitcoins for the companies that participate.

Computer warehouses require a lot of energy, and many companies moved to Kazakhstan, where electricity was plentiful thanks to huge coal reserves.

At first, the government welcomed them with open arms because they brought investments.

But too many miners came and put a enormous pressure on the electrical grid, putting the country at risk of blackouts.

In one year, Kazakhstan’s bitcoin mining industry went from boom to bust, as the government imposed restrictions and raised taxes to curb growth.

It is estimated that worldwide the bitcoin network uses as much electricity as a small country, raising concerns about its environmental impact.

Imagine having a cryptocurrency wallet worth more than $100 million and suddenly throwing away a hard drive containing your login details.

That’s what James Howells of Wales says happened to him.

The very nature of cryptocurrencies means that recovering them is not as easy as resetting your password. Without banks involved, there is no customer service helpline.

Unfortunately for him, his local council in Newport He was denied access to the landfill where he says the device ended upeven after he offered to donate 25% of his bitcoin stash to local charities if they let him.

“It was a moment of clarity and a sinking feeling,” he told the BBC.

No one has lost as many bitcoins as the former billionaire cryptocurrency tycoon, Sam Bankman-Fried.

The founder of the huge cryptocurrency company FTX was nicknamed the King of Cryptocurrencies and was well loved by the community.

FTX was a cryptocurrency exchange platform that allowed regular money to be exchanged for cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin.

His empire was worth about $32 billion and was flying high until it all came crashing down in a matter of days.

Journalists discovered that the Bankman-Fried company was in financial trouble and had been illegally transferring funds from FTX clients to prop up his other company, Alameda Research.

Just before his arrest at his luxury apartment complex in the Bahamas in December 2022, he spoke to reporters.

“I don’t think I committed fraud. I didn’t want any of this to happen. I certainly wasn’t as competent as I thought,” Bankman-Fried told the BBC.

After being extradited to the US, he was convicted of fraud and money laundering and imprisoned for 25 years.

Despite all the turmoil, bitcoin continues to attract the attention of investors and large companies.

In fact, In January 2024, some of the world’s largest financial firms added bitcoin to their official asset lists as spot bitcoin ETFs.

They are like stocks and shares, tied to the value of bitcoin, but you don’t have to own any personally.

Customers have been investing billions in these new products.

Companies like Blackrock, Fidelity, and GrayScale have also been buying bitcoin by the thousands, driving its value to all-time highs.

It’s a big milestone for cryptocurrencies and some fans believe bitcoin is finally being taken as seriously as the mysterious Satoshi envisioned.

However, few would object to more crazy moments as the bitcoin story continues to unfold.

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