The history of cryptocurrency: A timeline

Cryptocurrency has been a major financial buzzword in the last five years yet it really came into its own in 2020 – writes Orla Forrest

From market disruption through to global uncertainty, cryptocurrencies have had a pivotal role in approaches to countering inflation, wealth building and overall security.

A monumental growth event for cryptocurrency happened in May 2020 with the global cryptocurrency market jumping in value by more than $13 billion within 24 hours.

Even amidst the pandemic and market volatility, cryptocurrencies experienced unprecedented increases that have led many experts to endorse investing in this digital asset class as a matter of urgency.

Alongside this is the rush towards the adoption of central bank digital currencies worldwide as well as many governments pushing for greater regulation on cryptocurrencies.

When the normalisation of cryptocurrencies is considered with these concurrent events, it signifies that 2020 has been much more than a tumultuous year in finance: it may just be the pivotal year in legitimate mainstreaming of these decentralised currencies.

Adam Blumberg actually goes so far as to declare cryptocurrency “the next big thing in financial planning” with the assertion:

“The stories are there for advisers to tell their clients and infrastructure is being built to help make crypto a smart play in financial planning. It’s time for financial advisers to meet the future of digital investments.”   

This evolving conversation around cryptocurrency investing is just one of many reasons why these digital assets are at the forefront of the post-Covid-19 conversation.

With this a growing area of both personal finance and company investment such as Square buying USD $50 million in bitcoin in October 2020, people are turning to cryptocurrencies for dynamic reasons.

Ultimately evidence shows that the events of 2020 appear to have demonstrated just how important cryptocurrencies are and how fascinating the projected growth, decentralisation and freedom afforded by these assets will be.

To help people learn more about cryptocurrencies, Paradyn developed this infographic as a 101 on cryptocurrencies from 1982 through to 2019. Read on for the full guide, ‘The History of Cryptocurrency: A Timeline’ embedded below with additional relevant statistics, other landmark moments and much more.