By the end of 2017, Bitcoin surged from $10,000 to $20,000, experiencing a period of intense speculation. Although the price doubled within just a few weeks, this rise lacked strong fundamental support.
The first user of Bitcoin was programmer Laszlo Hanyecz, who on May 22, 2010, used 10,000 BTC to buy 2 pizzas. The first large-scale use occurred in February 2011 on the dark web "Silk Road," where Bitcoin was used to complete various illegal transactions. The dark web "Silk Road" was dismantled by the FBI in October 2013, with transaction volumes reaching an astonishing $214 million. This is remarkable as most Bitcoins were around $10 each at that time. Later statistics show that the total sales volume of the "Silk Road" was about 9.52 million Bitcoins.
Today, Bitcoin has been recognized by large publicly traded companies and multinational corporations. Its infinite divisibility, Bitcoin encapsulation, and altcoin derivatives are creating new inflation. Periodic halving, crypto KOLs, and institutional investors are continuously producing new systemic financial risks for Bitcoin.
