⸺ 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: $73,617.
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$0.71×104023Feb 9, 2011BTC reaches parity with the US dollar$1.00×73617Jun 8, 2011Bitcoin's first bubble peaks near $31$30×2487Oct 13, 2011Litecoin launches — 'silver to Bitcoin's gold'$4.05×18177Jun 1, 2012Coinbase founded$5.28×13943Nov 28, 2012First halving (block 210,000)$13×5889Mar 25, 2013Cyprus bailout seizes uninsured deposits, igniting Bitcoin's first safe-haven rally$74×998Apr 10, 2013First major bubble: $266 then crash$230×320Oct 2, 2013Silk Road seized; Ross Ulbricht arrested$130×566Crash, rebuild, scale
Mt. Gox falls; Ethereum and the scaling fight rise.
DateMomentPricevs today
Feb 28, 2014Mt. Gox files for bankruptcy$560×131Jul 22, 2014Ethereum ICO crowdsale begins$623×118Jun 3, 2015New York finalizes the BitLicense framework$226×326Jul 30, 2015Ethereum mainnet launches (Frontier release)$287×256Sep 17, 2015CFTC declares Bitcoin a commodity$233×316Jan 14, 2016Lightning Network whitepaper published$429×172Jun 17, 2016The DAO is drained of ~3.6M ETH (~$60M) via reentrancy exploit$744×99.0Jul 9, 2016Second halving (block 420,000)$657×112Mania & maturation
The $20k top, the long winter, the rails get built.
DateMomentPricevs today
Aug 1, 2017Bitcoin Cash hard fork$2,750×26.8Aug 24, 2017SegWit activated (BIP 141)$4,400×16.7Dec 17, 2017BTC peaks at ~$19,800 (cycle 3 top)$19,800×3.7Dec 18, 2017CME launches Bitcoin futures$19,100×3.9Nov 2, 2018Uniswap V1 deploys on Ethereum mainnet$6,395×11.5Dec 15, 2018BTC bottoms at ~$3,200 (84% drawdown)$3,220×22.9Jun 18, 2019Facebook announces Libra (later Diem)$9,120×8.1Wall Street arrives
Corporations, PayPal, and a nation-state buy in.
DateMomentPricevs today
Mar 12, 2020Black Thursday — BTC drops 50% in a day$4,970×14.8May 11, 2020Third halving (block 630,000)$8,580×8.6Jun 15, 2020Compound begins COMP token distribution, kicking off DeFi Summer's yield-farming boom$9,430×7.8Aug 11, 2020MicroStrategy buys $250M in BTC$11,760×6.3Oct 21, 2020PayPal enables Bitcoin for ~350M users$12,830×5.7Feb 8, 2021Tesla buys $1.5B in BTC$46,500×1.6Mar 11, 2021Beeple's "Everydays: The First 5000 Days" sells for $69.3M at Christie's$57,809×1.3Apr 14, 2021Coinbase IPOs on NASDAQ ($COIN)$64,850×1.1May 19, 2021China bans BTC mining$36,800×2.0Jun 9, 2021El Salvador votes BTC as legal tender$33,500×2.2Nov 10, 2021BTC all-time high of $69,000$69,000×1.1Nov 14, 2021Taproot soft fork activates$65,500×1.1Contagion
Terra, Celsius, FTX — the leverage unwinds.
DateMomentPricevs today
May 9, 2022Terra/Luna collapses — UST depegs$30,900×2.4Jun 13, 2022Celsius halts withdrawals$22,600×3.3Sep 15, 2022Ethereum Merge to proof-of-stake$19,800×3.7Nov 11, 2022FTX files Chapter 11; SBF resigns$17,200×4.3Mar 10, 2023Silicon Valley Bank fails; Signature Bank seized$20,100×3.7Jun 15, 2023BlackRock files for spot BTC ETF$25,500×2.9The institutional era
The ETF, $100k, and a US strategic reserve.
DateMomentPricevs today
Jan 10, 2024SEC approves spot Bitcoin ETFs$46,500×1.6Apr 19, 2024Fourth halving (block 840,000)$63,800×1.2May 23, 2024SEC approves spot Ether ETFs$67,900×1.1Nov 5, 2024Trump elected; BTC rallies past $76k same week$75,000-2%Dec 4, 2024BTC crosses $100,000 for the first time$99,000-26%Mar 6, 2025US Strategic Bitcoin Reserve established$88,000-16%Jul 18, 2025Trump signs the GENIUS Act, the first U.S. federal stablecoin law$118,026-38%Oct 6, 2025BTC all-time high of $126,296$126,296-42%Feb 6, 2026Bitcoin crashes ~52% to ~$60,000; bear market confirmed$70,536×1.0