If you ever doubted that Bitcoin was the King of Currencies, consider how many “birthdays” it has. While our own monarch has just two, Bitcoin is even more regal: it celebrates three… the second of which fell on the first Sunday of 2021

Bitcoin’s numerous birthdays makes it hard to determine its true, exact age. Do we date it from the famous Whitepaper of Halloween 2008. Should we mark 3 January, the anniversary of the bitcoin network and the mining of the first-ever block? Or is it better to plump for 22 May (“Pizza Day”), when it first acquired real-world value?

The answer is that all these dates are important. If the Whitepaper was the glint in its father’s eye, then January 3 marks the actual conception, while Pizza Day was the actual “birth”.

But Bitcoin isn’t King simply because it has a trio of birthdays. Rather, these numerous developmental milestones give us three opportunities to marvel at the phenomenal success it has achieved in such a short space of time, and in the face of such staunch and concerted opposition.

Any parent will fondly remember their child’s first word, its first tooth, or first faltering steps. But these achievements happen naturally and in a loving and protective atmosphere. Bitcoin enjoyed no such coddling: it was damned at birth, and continually throughout its early existence. Bitcoin’s enemies never ceased to revel in its impending death: it was fundamentally flawed; it wouldn’t scale; it had no use case; it lacked any intrinsic value.

As it approaches its teenage years, Bitcoin and its supporters can look back on “childhood” achievements with far more pride than almost any 10- or 12-year-old.

[blockquote text=”It’s as if Bitcoin has learned not only to walk, but to run; and not just without support and encouragement, but in a house rigged with tripwires and other obstacles designed to bring it crashing down to earth.” text_color=”” width=”” line_height=”undefined” background_color=”” border_color=”” show_quote_icon=”yes” quote_icon_color=”#00457D”]

That’s not to say that Bitcoin hasn’t had its fair share of love. There are plenty of people who have recognised the seeds of genius in this maverick child, and have backed it even while those in authority were predicting (and celebrating) its swift demise. From institutional investors to ordinary citizens looking for a way to protect the value of their hard-earned retirement savings, there’s been no shortage of supporters.

The truth is that Bitcoin is brilliant enough not to need the backing of governments, regulators, and other financial “experts”. It has not just survived internal and external crises – from the Mt Gox debacle to attempts to remove the cornerstone of pseudonymity through regulation – but thrived. In just over a decade it has achieved so much: from ever greater decentralisation to its self-reinforcing philosophy; the huge computing power at its command to the sea of talent and human capital that surrounds it.

And that’s without mentioning the price. Readers will know that, as a HODLer, I usually steer clear of commenting on the peaks and troughs in value. After all: To err is human; to spike is Bitcoin. But the recent run to record heights can no longer be dismissed simply as speculation – and certainly not in the context of major institutions trading gold for orange.

So, whatever day you mark as Bitcoin’s “true” birthday, we should never forget to celebrate all that it has achieved, in so short a time, and with so little support from those in authority. And we can only wonder at what more Bitcoin will achieve by the time it reaches its majority at the end of the decade. Because if a 12-year-old can shake the financial world to its foundations, just imagine what it can do in the next nine years.