HODL
Hold, no matter what
Born from a 2013 typo, it became the philosophy of those who ride out the cycles without selling.
Almanac of digital gold · NokxiHub · Version française
The history of Bitcoin,
block by block.
It all started with a line in a newspaper. In sixteen years, a worthless cryptographic promise became an asset worth more than a hundred thousand dollars. Here is that saga — told by its own price curve.
Chancellor on brink of second bailout for banks
Engraved in Bitcoin’s very first block by Satoshi Nakamoto — a timestamp, and a manifesto.
Log scale · 2009 → today
The curve of a legend
On a regular scale, Bitcoin’s early years are invisible. On a log scale, every cycle shows: the peaks, the winters, and the relentless underlying trend.
1st peak2017 bubbleATH $69kSpot ETFs$100k
Chapter I2008 — 2010
Genesis
An idea born of the crisis
In the middle of the 2008 banking collapse, a pseudonym — Satoshi Nakamoto — published nine pages describing money without banks or states. A few months later, the first block was mined. Bitcoin was worth nothing: just a cryptographic promise shared by a handful of enthusiasts.
- 2008October 31, 2008
The whitepaper
—Satoshi Nakamoto publishes “Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System” on a cryptography mailing list.
Satoshi’s identity has never been revealed to this day.
- 2009January 3, 2009
The Genesis block
$0The first block is mined with a 50 BTC reward. It carries a message engraved in the chain forever.
“The Times 03/Jan/2009 Chancellor on brink of second bailout for banks”.
- 2010May 22, 2010
Bitcoin Pizza Day
$0.003Laszlo Hanyecz trades 10,000 BTC for two pizzas: the first commercial transaction in Bitcoin’s history.
Those 10,000 BTC would be worth hundreds of millions of dollars today.
Chapter II2011 — 2014
The Pioneers
The price takes shape
Bitcoin reaches parity with the dollar, then soars and crashes to the rhythm of the first exchanges. Mt. Gox handles most of the world’s trading… before collapsing. The community learns the hard way what “not being your own bank” can cost.
- 2011February 2011
Parity with the dollar
$1For the first time, 1 BTC is worth 1 USD. The symbol captures imaginations.
- 2013November 2013
The first real peak
$1,100Driven by Cyprus and China, the price briefly tops $1,000.
- 2014February 2014
The fall of Mt. Gox
$600The exchange that handled 70% of all trading goes bankrupt: 850,000 BTC vanish. A founding lesson on key custody.
Not your keys, not your coins.
Chapter III2015 — 2019
The Institutional Awakening
The frenzy, then the hangover
The 2017 frenzy thrusts Bitcoin into the mainstream spotlight: everyone is talking about it, near $20,000. Then comes a brutal crypto winter that purges the speculation. Meanwhile, behind the scenes, the infrastructure is being built.
- 2017December 2017
The 2017 bubble
$19,700Bitcoin nears $20,000. Media coverage explodes and retail investors pour in.
- 20182018
The crypto winter
$3,700The price collapses by more than 80%. Skeptics bury Bitcoin… once again.
Chapter IV2020 — today
Adoption
Digital gold joins the big leagues
The pandemic and monetary policy revive the digital-gold narrative. Companies and an entire country adopt it, the price breaks records, and the approval of spot ETFs throws the doors of traditional finance wide open.
- 2021November 2021
All-time high
$69,000Bitcoin passes $69,000. El Salvador makes it legal tender.
- 2024January 2024
Spot ETFs approved
$46,000The US regulator authorizes spot Bitcoin ETFs. BlackRock and the asset-management giants step in.
- 20252024 — 2025
The $100,000 mark
$100,000Driven by ETF inflows, Bitcoin crosses $100,000 for the first time.
Calculator
The regret machine
What if you had invested? Pick an amount and a date, and see what that stake would be worth today at the current price.
₿
Set the parameters, then run the calculation.
Illustrative calculation based on approximate historical prices and the current price. Past performance does not guarantee future results. Month-by-month version with real prices →
Five questions
How well do you know Bitcoin?
Test what you remember from this story.
Question 1 / 5
What is the maximum number of bitcoins that will ever exist?
Purchasing power
What is one bitcoin worth?
At the current price, here is what a single bitcoin could buy.
1 ₿= Pick something above
The insiders’ glossary
Bitcoin folklore
A community is known by its words. Here are four, born from the great moments of this story.
To the moon
All the way up
The rallying cry of bull markets, when the price seems to have no ceiling.
Diamond hands
Unbreakable conviction
Holding your position without flinching, even when everything around you is collapsing.
Not your keys, not your coins
Self-custody first
The principle carved by the fall of Mt. Gox: without your private keys, you own nothing.
Key takeaways
Four numbers to understand
The maximum number of bitcoins that will ever exist. A scarcity written into the code, impossible to change.
The halving interval: every 210,000 blocks, the issuance is cut in half.
The price of two pizzas in 2010. The most expensive transaction in history, celebrated every May 22.
The year of the Genesis block. Since then, the network has never stopped running, block after block.
Your turn now
The story is still being written. Replay it with real monthly prices: what a lump sum, or a monthly investment, in bitcoin would be worth today — compared with the MSCI World.