BLOCKCHAIN OF EVENTS

Feb 2011 The launch of Silk Road — a dodgy online marketplace for selling drugs and weapons using Bitcoin — propels the currency to reach parity with the USD. Oct 2013 The first Bitcoin ATM opens in a Vancouver coffee shop. By 2016, there will be more than 700 such ATMS worldwide.

Jul 2014

Tech retailers Newegg and Dell begin accepting Bitcoin. Microsoft follows their lead later that year by accepting it as payment for Xbox games.

Dec 2016

Bitcoin becomes the best-performing currency for the second year in a row.

Sep 2017

Regulators in China, one of the world’s most active Bitcoin markets, ban initial coin offerings and shut down all local cryptocurrency exchanges.

Sep 2017

Jpmorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon calls Bitcoin a “fraud”. (He has since gone on to say that he regrets this statement.)

Dec 16, 2017

Bitcoin hits a record close that approaches $20,000. It soon goes on to crash. Then rise again.