The seventeenth anniversary of the Bitcoin white paper: from the vision of encryption to global financial assets

The white paper of Bitcoin, published by Satoshi Nakamoto, celebrates its seventeenth anniversary on Friday.
Over the past seventeen years, Bitcoin has evolved from the concept of peer-to-peer digital cash to an institutional-grade asset class, supported by spot exchange-traded funds, corporate treasury bonds, and sovereign adoption.
The rise in the value of Bitcoin to $126,000 in its seventeenth year and surpassing a market value of $2 trillion confirms its transformation into a major financial asset.

The Bitcoin white paper (BTC), published by Satoshi Nakamoto, celebrated its seventeenth anniversary of issuance on Friday. The value of this decentralized electronic cash system, which has evolved into an institutional asset class, has surpassed two trillion dollars, embraced by institutions, companies, and sovereign entities. The value of the largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization rose to $126,000 in its seventeenth year, confirming its transformation into a major financial asset.

Cypherpunk Vision: Creating the White Paper
The Bitcoin white paper, which was published on October 31, 2008, with a nine-page PDF titled "Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System," laid the foundation for a new era of digital finance.

The white paper presented a revolutionary idea for a decentralized electronic monetary system that enables electronic payments to be sent directly between parties without the need for intermediaries like banks. The white paper explored key innovative ideas, such as cryptographic hashing, block engineering, and timestamping mechanisms, which together addressed the chronic "double spending" problem through a peer-to-peer network.

The Cypherpunk vision was rooted in decentralization, financial freedom, and mediation, leading to the removal of the need for trusted third parties such as banks or governments.

This can be considered the first line of the white paper summary: "The peer-to-peer version of electronic cash would allow for online payments to be sent directly from one party to another without going through a financial institution."

The white paper for Bitcoin was released following the global financial crisis of 2008, a period characterized by bank collapses and a loss of trust in traditional financial systems.

This was evident in the Genesis Block (, the first block in the Bitcoin blockchain ), where the creator left a message, also known as the Genesis Block message, on January 3, 2009: "The Times 03/Jan/2009 Chancellor on brink of second saving bankns."

This message on the Genesis block was the headline of The Times regarding the United Kingdom's response to the 2007-2008 financial crisis. Nakamoto opposed the idea of institutions that are too big to fail and wanted Bitcoin to be different.

The fundamental principles from the writings of Satoshi Nakamoto
Peer-to-Peer Transactions:
Bitcoin is designed to enable individuals to transfer value directly to one another without intermediaries such as banks or payment processors.

decentralized control
The network will be secured and maintained through independent contracts and miners instead of central authorities, ensuring trust through consensus, namely proof of work (POW).

Resistance to censorship
No government or company should have the authority to ban, reverse, or seize transactions on the Bitcoin network.

The offer is limited (21 million Bitcoin)
By setting a maximum supply, Bitcoin was built to protect against inflation and the monetary manipulation common in fiat currency systems.

Privacy and autonomy
Although Bitcoin is not completely anonymous, Satoshi envisioned it as a system that grants users financial privacy and freedom from centralised surveillance.

How Bitcoin becomes a global financial asset
Over the past seventeen years, the Bitcoin landscape has undergone significant changes. Bitcoin started as a tool for digital freedom and financial independence, then evolved into a major financial asset, widely adopted by hedge funds, corporations, and giant institutions through (ETFs).

Bitcoin, which was synonymous with the principles of encryption, privacy, and decentralization, now stands alongside traditional assets in the portfolios of the world's largest investors, as its current market value has exceeded $2.18 trillion and it ranks eighth among the largest assets by market capitalization in the world, surpassing major companies such as Broadcom and Meta Platforms, as shown in the image below.

The first Bitcoin transaction occurred in 2009, when Satoshi Nakamoto sent 10 Bitcoins to Hal Finney, a software developer and one of the early contributors to Bitcoin. This marked the beginning of real peer-to-peer electronic cash transactions - direct exchange without intermediaries. A year later, on May 22, 2010, Laszlo Hanyecz, one of the first Bitcoin developers, spent 10,000 Bitcoins to buy pizza from Papa John's. This event, now celebrated as Bitcoin Pizza Day, became the first known commercial transaction in Bitcoin's history.

But in today's world, the role of Bitcoin has undergone a significant transformation. Institutional reliance on it has increased greatly, with major companies like BlackRock, Fidelity, MicroStrategy, and Tesla owning or trading Bitcoin.

According to data from BitcoinTreasuries, more than 353 entities collectively hold about 4.05 million BTC, which represents approximately 20.31% of the current circulating supply of Bitcoin at 19.94 million and 19.3% of the total supply of 21 million BTC.

In addition to companies, the governments of the United States, Canada, El Salvador, and Bhutan have also become owners of Bitcoin, highlighting its growing role in national reserves and digital asset strategies. Notably, the United States emerged as a global center for cryptocurrencies during the presidency of Donald Trump, following the enactment of supportive regulations aimed at fostering innovation, legitimacy, and broader adoption in financial and institutional sectors.

The adoption of Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs), whether spot or futures, has solidified Bitcoin's position in traditional financial markets. Instead of being used as a daily payment method, Bitcoin is now referred to as "digital gold," serving as a hedge against inflation and economic uncertainty, and is often viewed as an alternative investment to gold, the safe haven.

Moreover, Bitcoin is currently traded mainly on regulated exchanges and through institutional custody services, operating under strict frameworks for the "Know Your Customer" (KYC) and Anti-Money Laundering (AML) principles. These are the intermediaries and control mechanisms that Satoshi Nakamoto initially sought to eliminate in pursuit of financial privacy, user autonomy, and freedom.

While the growing institutional demand has boosted the adoption, liquidity, and legitimacy of Bitcoin, it also represents a clear deviation from Satoshi's original anti-establishment vision. The network, which started as "money for the people," has now become a popular asset in global investment portfolios.

The technical outlook for Bitcoin
On the technical side, the price of Bitcoin reached an all-time high of $126,199 on October 6 and is currently trading at around $110,000 at the time of writing this report.

PlanB, a well-known crypto analyst, posted on X that the bearish narratives linking Bitcoin market peaks solely to the four-year halving cycle claim that the last three cycles do not provide sufficient data to draw reliable conclusions, as there have only been three halving cycles so far, which is a very small sample size.

Instead, his "stock-to-flow" model (S2F) predicts an average Bitcoin price ranging from $288,000 to $500,000 for the period from 2024 to 2028, without precisely defining the market peak.

According to the latest analysis by PlanB, the realized price of Bitcoin continues to move near the 200-week moving average, with the 14-month Relative Strength Index (RSI) remaining below 80 as of mid-October 2025 - a sign that Bitcoin has not yet entered an overvaluation phase, which he sees as necessary before any deep correction occurs.

With Bitcoin trading at around $110,000, down from its peak of $126,199, PlanB suggests that strong institutional flows and delayed macroeconomic stimuli like interest rate cuts could extend the current bull market cycle to 2026 or beyond.

Experts' predictions for the price of Bitcoin
Some prominent figures in the cryptocurrency sector remain optimistic about Bitcoin's long-term potential. Michael Saylor, founder of Strategy, stated to CNBC this week on Wednesday that the price of Bitcoin could reach $150,000 by the end of this year. Saylor also anticipates a long-term target of the currency reaching $20 million over the next two decades.

In an exclusive interview with Jeff Kendrick, Head of Global Digital Asset Research at Standard Chartered, he told FXStreet that BTC could reach the $300,000 mark by 2026.

Idol Patel, the CEO of ModriX, told FXStreet that "Bitcoin is likely to maintain its bullish momentum and head towards new high levels in the range of $130,000 to $140,000 by the end of the year, amid positive developments."
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