Bitcoin is the world’s first, and most popular, cryptocurrency. Bitcoin was developed in 2008 by a programmer using the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto. Satoshi’s 9-page white paper outlining this new decentralized, digital currency sparked the crypto ecosystem we know today.
Bitcoin is a peer-to-peer system for sending payments that was not reliant on a centralized financial institution. Its primary functions depend on two technological concepts that had been in development since the late 20th Century, blockchain and decentralized currency. Neither concept had been fully realized in a practical application until Nakamoto fused them together under the system he would call “Bitcoin.”
In broad terms, the launch of Bitcoin was the big bang that created the entire cryptocurrency universe. Today, the crypto market plays host to countless decentralized currencies that utilize blockchain technology. Sitting atop the heap is Bitcoin, which remains the most valuable cryptocurrency.
Impact Story: The Pineapple Fund’s $55 Million in Bitcoin Grants to Charities
In 2018, a Bitcoin user using the pseudonym “Pine” granted 5104 Bitcoin (BTC) to 60 charities, worth around $55 Million at the time. Today, many of those organizations are leading advocates for crypto philanthropy in the nonprofit sector.
