The Journey of Bitcoin: A Look Back at Its First Exchange Rate in 2009
For more than a decade, traders and investors have been captivated by the notable changes in Bitcoin‘s value. Fifteen years ago, on October 5, 2009, the New Liberty Standard Exchange set the starting exchange rate for the most popular cryptocurrency, Bitcoin. Since then, the price of the main cryptocurrency has increased by an incredible 8,700,000,000%, as reported by well-known Bitcoin historian Pete Rizzo. In those days, the first cryptocurrency in history was worth less than a pennies.
Martti Malmi Sold His Bitcoin Fortune Early: How He Missed Out on Billions?
The value of the coin was determined by the exchange rate provided by the New Liberty Standard, which was $1 = 1,309.03 BTC. It was calculated using the price of electricity required to power a computer for Bitcoin mining. The first Bitcoin to USD transaction was carried out by Martti Malmi, a computer scientist from Finland. Malmi is well-known for selling 5,550 Bitcoin for a mere $5 using a PaPal transfer. Naturally, Bitcoin had not even begun to gain traction at that point.
In the early days of Bitcoin, Malmi was able to mine 55,000 BTC. But in 2012, when the price of Bitcoin was less than $30, he sold his money in the cryptocurrency to pay for an apartment in Helsinki. He subsequently sold the remaining assets when he relocated to Japan. If Malmi had chosen to hold onto his coins, he might have become a billionaire. The second-ever Bitcoin developer acknowledged that his decisions were “regretful,” but he also insisted that earning money was never his top concern. He said that Satoshi‘s request for him to maintain his node operating so that others might join resulted in the unintentional outcome of his Bitcoin windfall.
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