The first block of the Bitcoin blockchain was mined on January 3, 2009. 14 years later, the cryptocurrency is in a tough spot after dominating the cryptocurrency market in a good way. However, Bitcoin’s place is not in question.
Conversely, some analysts believe that the token will return to higher paths in the new year. On the occasion of 14th anniversary of the bitcoin blockchainlet’s take a look back at the events that marked the year 2022 of the number one cryptocurrency.
In 14 years, the status of Bitcoin has changed a lot
Bitcoin (BTC) has become a reference currency worldwide where it is used as a means of payment. But it hasn’t always been like this, above all at the beginning when the “Genesis” block was mined. Bitcoin was then mainly used by cypherpunks.
The king of cryptocurrencies has undergone a permanent evolution over time. Its value soared to $48,000 before taking a precipitous drop in 2022. Its price hit $16,700 last year despite some exciting news.
One of the strong news of Bitcoin in 2022 is its adoption by the Central African Republic as legal tender. The Central African Republic has followed in the footsteps of savior April 26, 2022, i.e. an 8-month gap between the two formalizations. To date, these are the only two countries to have adopted Bitcoin as legal tender.
19 million BTC mined
The global supply of Bitcoin is limited to 21 million tokens. In 2022, we reached 19 million tokens mined on April 1st. This is a major milestone as there are only 2 million BTC left to mine.
This information needs to be put into perspective due to the halving. It’s a process that cuts block production by two every four years. This means that mining for new Bitcoins can no longer be done so quickly. Under this process, it takes on average 4 halvings to mine 6.25 new Bitcoins after mining a block. As a result, the 21 millionth BTC will be mined approximately in the year 2140.
Integration of the Taro protocol
In 2022, the Taro protocol was launched on the Bitcoin network. The Taproot Asset Representation Overlay allows for the issuance of all types of digital assets (stablecoins, fungible tokens, non-fungible tokens) on the Bitcoin blockchain.
An early version appeared on the Bitcoin blockchain test network on September 28.. It will undergo improvements over time, integrating new features.
The progress of the Lightning network
The Lightning Network, Bitcoin’s scaling network, has continued to evolve. Initially at 3,300 BTC at the beginning of the year, it had 5,130 BTC as of December 31, 2022.
During the year, payment application Cash App has integrated the BTC scaling network into its BTC payment services. The app has 45 million monthly active users.
Furthermore, Microstategy, an American company that accumulates a large amount of Bitcoins, has started the development of a platform dedicated to the Lightning Network. This the development should allow the Lightning Network scalability network to gain new uses for e-commerce.
Bitcoin was soon seen as a means of payment in its own right
Bitcoin is considered a currency in its own right by more and more people. Businesses started accepting BTC payments in 2022 and the trend is expected to spread a bit more over time.
Here is a list of some companies and brands that started accepting BTC in 2022:
- Gucci: luxury prêt-à-porter brand;
- Vueling: Spanish airline;
- Watches World: purchase-resale platform for luxury watches;
- Breitling: Swiss watchmaker;
- Novelship: Southeast Asia’s largest online sneaker seller;
- Tennessee Titans: American football franchise.
Bitcoin wins the trust of institutions
Unlike previous years, BTC is generating more confidence among institutional investors. The drop in the price of the token has not changed the attitude of the operators who still offer this means of payment to their customers.
In the US, for example, Fidelity, the leading provider of retirement savings plans, continues to offer BTC among its investment options. Its members have the option to deposit up to 20% of their savings account in Bitcoin with this system.
In addition, BNY Mellon, the oldest bank in the United States, has opened a custody service for its customers’ cryptocurrencies. The service has been operational since October 2022 and supports Bitcoin and other digital assets.
Bitcoin enters the Guinness World Records but loses one of its most loyal developers
In 2022, Bitcoin entered the book of Guinness World Records as the “First decentralized cryptocurrency”. It has been placed in a new category called “Cryptomania”. The book traces the history of the creation of digital currency. This is a milestone for Bitcoin and crypto-assets as Guinness World Records has global recognition.
Despite this breakthrough, the project has lost its primary developer and maintainer, Wladimir van der Laan. He held this position for more than 8 years after taking over from Gavin Andresen, himself replacing Satoshi Nakamoto, the founder of Bitcoin. This is sad news for the project because Van der Laan has largely contributed to the construction of the network to date.
What does the year 2023 hold for Bitcoin?
The past year has been full of events and lessons. Now it remains to be seen how the year 2023 will unfold.
According to several observers, BTC price may undergo an upward trend during this year. In question, the next halving is expected to take place in mid-2024. According to what is usually observed, the price of BTC rises by about a year before the date of the next halving. If this is confirmed, the price of BTC is expected to start rising by mid-2023.
Given the current trend in which its price is struggling to recover, it is difficult to imagine that this trend can be confirmed. However, some analysts are confident about a possible upside.