⸺ The moments that mattered ⸺
Bitcoin's most pivotal moments
Not every milestone — just the 54turning points that actually changed Bitcoin's trajectory: the whitepaper, the halvings, Mt. Gox, the scaling wars, the ETF, sovereign adoption. The handful of heartbeats that mattered most. Current BTC: $61,577.
Want the full record? See all milestones →
Genesis
An idea, a block, and two pizzas.
The first cycles
Bitcoin learns to boom and bust.
DateMomentPricevs today
Feb 1, 2011Silk Road darknet market launches$0.71×87010Feb 9, 2011BTC reaches parity with the US dollar$1.00×61577Jun 8, 2011Bitcoin's first bubble peaks near $31$30×2080Oct 13, 2011Litecoin launches — 'silver to Bitcoin's gold'$4.05×15204Jun 1, 2012Coinbase founded$5.28×11662Nov 28, 2012First halving (block 210,000)$13×4926Mar 25, 2013Cyprus bailout seizes uninsured deposits, igniting Bitcoin's first safe-haven rally$74×834Apr 10, 2013First major bubble: $266 then crash$230×268Oct 2, 2013Silk Road seized; Ross Ulbricht arrested$130×474Crash, rebuild, scale
Mt. Gox falls; Ethereum and the scaling fight rise.
DateMomentPricevs today
Feb 28, 2014Mt. Gox files for bankruptcy$560×110Jul 22, 2014Ethereum ICO crowdsale begins$623×98.9Jun 3, 2015New York finalizes the BitLicense framework$226×273Jul 30, 2015Ethereum mainnet launches (Frontier release)$287×215Sep 17, 2015CFTC declares Bitcoin a commodity$233×265Jan 14, 2016Lightning Network whitepaper published$429×143Jun 17, 2016The DAO is drained of ~3.6M ETH (~$60M) via reentrancy exploit$744×82.8Jul 9, 2016Second halving (block 420,000)$657×93.7Mania & maturation
The $20k top, the long winter, the rails get built.
DateMomentPricevs today
Aug 1, 2017Bitcoin Cash hard fork$2,750×22.4Aug 24, 2017SegWit activated (BIP 141)$4,400×14.0Dec 17, 2017BTC peaks at ~$19,800 (cycle 3 top)$19,800×3.1Dec 18, 2017CME launches Bitcoin futures$19,100×3.2Nov 2, 2018Uniswap V1 deploys on Ethereum mainnet$6,395×9.6Dec 15, 2018BTC bottoms at ~$3,200 (84% drawdown)$3,220×19.1Jun 18, 2019Facebook announces Libra (later Diem)$9,120×6.8Wall Street arrives
Corporations, PayPal, and a nation-state buy in.
DateMomentPricevs today
Mar 12, 2020Black Thursday — BTC drops 50% in a day$4,970×12.4May 11, 2020Third halving (block 630,000)$8,580×7.2Jun 15, 2020Compound begins COMP token distribution, kicking off DeFi Summer's yield-farming boom$9,430×6.5Aug 11, 2020MicroStrategy buys $250M in BTC$11,760×5.2Oct 21, 2020PayPal enables Bitcoin for ~350M users$12,830×4.8Feb 8, 2021Tesla buys $1.5B in BTC$46,500×1.3Mar 11, 2021Beeple's "Everydays: The First 5000 Days" sells for $69.3M at Christie's$57,809×1.1Apr 14, 2021Coinbase IPOs on NASDAQ ($COIN)$64,850-5%May 19, 2021China bans BTC mining$36,800×1.7Jun 9, 2021El Salvador votes BTC as legal tender$33,500×1.8Nov 10, 2021BTC all-time high of $69,000$69,000-11%Nov 14, 2021Taproot soft fork activates$65,500-6%Contagion
Terra, Celsius, FTX — the leverage unwinds.
DateMomentPricevs today
May 9, 2022Terra/Luna collapses — UST depegs$30,900×2.0Jun 13, 2022Celsius halts withdrawals$22,600×2.7Sep 15, 2022Ethereum Merge to proof-of-stake$19,800×3.1Nov 11, 2022FTX files Chapter 11; SBF resigns$17,200×3.6Mar 10, 2023Silicon Valley Bank fails; Signature Bank seized$20,100×3.1Jun 15, 2023BlackRock files for spot BTC ETF$25,500×2.4The institutional era
The ETF, $100k, and a US strategic reserve.
DateMomentPricevs today
Jan 10, 2024SEC approves spot Bitcoin ETFs$46,500×1.3Apr 19, 2024Fourth halving (block 840,000)$63,800-3%May 23, 2024SEC approves spot Ether ETFs$67,900-9%Nov 5, 2024Trump elected; BTC rallies past $76k same week$75,000-18%Dec 4, 2024BTC crosses $100,000 for the first time$99,000-38%Mar 6, 2025US Strategic Bitcoin Reserve established$88,000-30%Jul 18, 2025Trump signs the GENIUS Act, the first U.S. federal stablecoin law$118,026-48%Oct 6, 2025BTC all-time high of $126,296$126,296-51%Feb 6, 2026Bitcoin crashes ~52% to ~$60,000; bear market confirmed$70,536-13%