Bitcoin (BTC) Turns 13, Has Been up About 3,000,000% Since The Economist Wrote It Off

Pete Rizzo, a prominent Bitcoin historian, has noted that it has been exactly 13 years since The Economist, one of the most famous business media outlets

In an interesting development, Pete Rizzo, a prominent Bitcoin historian, has highlighted that it has been exactly 13 years since The Economist, one of the most famous business media outlets, wrote off the cryptocurrency in its now-infamous article.

The article, which was published on Oct. 21, 2011, claimed that Bitcoin was “in trouble” after it tanked below $3 from its peak of $33.

The very first Bitcoin bubble emerged back in June 2011 largely thanks to Gawker, a now-defunct American pop culture website. The cryptocurrency got on everyone’s radar after Gawker covered the launch of the infamous Silk Road dark web marketplace. Around the same time, some of the first cryptocurrency exchanges went live, which made it a lot easier for the average person to buy Bitcoin.

However, those who rushed to join the Bitcoin bandwagon were then greeted by a steep price crash. In December 2011, it then crashed to just a little over $2, dealing a heavy blow to the early adopters of the original cryptocurrency.

The article published by The Economist stated that the reason behind the Bitcoin crash was unclear. At the same time, it went on to describe the very first Bitcoin frenzy as a “speculative bubble.”

Needless to say, the article has not aged particularly well. Bitcoin ended up becoming the best-performing asset of the 2010s while also laying the foundation for a new asset class that has since grown into a multi-trillion-dollar industry.

At press time, Bitcoin is trading at $67,121, according to CoinGecko data. Earlier this year, the cryptocurrency peaked at nearly $74,000.

Rizzo has estimated that Bitcoin is up roughly 3,000,000% since the article was published 13 years ago.