Bitcoin Turns 18: From Cypherpunk Rebel to Wall Street Asset

Bitcoin turns 18 today, tracing a path from Satoshi Nakamoto’s cypherpunk roots to a mainstream Wall Street-style asset—while facing renewed security fears. Nakamoto posted Bitcoin’s whitepaper on a cryptography mailing list on Oct. 31, 2008, and the first genesis block was mined on Jan. 3, 2009. The article notes the embedded Times headline about a “second bailout” for banks, linking Bitcoin’s origin to the financial crisis. Key milestones include the May 22, 2010 “Bitcoin Pizza Day” purchase by Laszlo Hanyecz and Bitcoin’s 2014 crash after Mt. Gox halted trading. Its future now hinges on fallout from the $6.3 billion Binance hack, quantum computing worries, AI-driven cyber threats, and long-term security questions.