Here is the history of Bitcoin ¹ ²:

*The Pre-History of Bitcoin*

- The pre-history of Bitcoin is often neglected but is essential to understanding it as a techno-social phenomenon decades in the making.

- Bitcoin's initial support base consisted mostly of tech-savvy individuals, libertarians and crypto-anarchists.

- Bitcoin's inception and adoption within this community have come to define its values, virtues and fundamental design.

*The Ideology of Bitcoin*

- The formative influence of Bitcoin stems from the discourse surrounding two particular communities: extropians and cypherpunks.

- Extropians are individuals who actively build and test systems for the betterment of humanity while adhering to a strictly rationalist mindset unhindered by dogmatism.

- Cypherpunks are individuals who advocate for the use of cryptography and other privacy-enhancing technologies to promote social and political change.

*The Founding of Bitcoin*

- On October 31, 2008, an anonymous individual who went by the name of Satoshi Nakamoto published a white paper detailing a design for a "peer-to-peer electronic cash system."

- The purpose of this system was to allow online payments to be sent directly from one party to another without going through a financial institution.

- On January 3, 2009, Nakamoto mined the first block on the Bitcoin network, known as the genesis block, thus launching the world's first cryptocurrency.

*Early Years of Bitcoin*

- In July 2010, Bitcoin first started trading, with the Bitcoin price ranging from $0.0008 to $0.08.

- The first known Bitcoin commercial transaction occurred on May 22, 2010, when programmer Laszlo Hanyecz traded 10,000 Bitcoins for two pizzas.

- This event is now known as "Bitcoin Pizza Day."

*Growth and Development of Bitcoin*

- Over the years, a large number of people have contributed to improving the cryptocurrency's software by patching vulnerabilities and adding new features.

- Bitcoin's source code repository on GitHub lists more than 750 contributors, with some of the key ones being Wladimir J. van der in their everyday lives.