The cryptocurrency community is marking 17 years since the first Bitcoin block was mined, a milestone that falls on Jan. 3, 2026. On this day in 2009, Bitcoin’s pseudonymous creator Satoshi Nakamoto launched the network as open-source software by mining the genesis block.
Major exchange Coinbase joined the celebrations on social media, first posting a hash-style message referencing the block’s technical data, followed by a simple note: “Happy birthday bitcoin.”
The genesis block, mined on Jan. 3, 2009, included a message embedded by Satoshi that has since become part of Bitcoin lore: “The Times 03/Jan/2009 Chancellor on brink of second bailout for banks.” The line references a front-page headline from British newspaper The Times, widely interpreted as a comment on the traditional financial system.
The launch of the network followed several earlier steps laying Bitcoin’s foundations:
- Aug. 18, 2008: The bitcoin.org domain name was registered.
- Oct. 31, 2008: Satoshi Nakamoto posted the white paper “Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System” to a cryptography mailing list.
- Jan. 3, 2009: Satoshi mined the genesis block, activating the Bitcoin network.
- Jan. 12, 2009: Developer Hal Finney received the first recorded Bitcoin transaction from Satoshi.
Seventeen years on, Bitcoin has evolved into a trillion-dollar asset and a fixture in institutional portfolios. Spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) recorded total net inflows of $471 million on Jan. 2, with BlackRock’s IBIT product accounting for $287 million of that figure.
At the time of writing, Bitcoin was trading at $90,007, after setting an all-time high of $126,198 in October 2025. The largest digital asset has held above $90,000 for a second consecutive day, recovering from a brief dip below that level in December.
Following a sharp sell-off in October, Bitcoin settled into a trading range between roughly $85,000 and $95,000. Market participants are now watching for signs that bullish traders can push the price decisively out of that band as 2026 begins.