2009 – Almost nobody
The genesis block is dated 3 January 2009. A handful of people, Hal Finney among them, mined on home computers. Coins had no market price.
2010 – First prices, first fixes
- 22 May: Laszlo Hanyecz bought two pizzas for 10,000 BTC (Pizza Day).
- 15 August: the overflow bug created billions of coins; it was patched and the bad block abandoned within hours.
- Satoshi's last BitcoinTalk posts are from 12 December 2010.
2011–2012 – Growing up
Development passed to a wider group of volunteers. Silk Road opened in early 2011 and gave Bitcoin a reputation it took years to shake. On 28 November 2012 block 210,000 cut the reward from 50 to 25 BTC – the first halving, exactly on schedule.
2013 – Headlines
A chain split in March was fixed within hours (BIP 50). Prices rose sharply that year and then fell back – the first of several boom-and-bust cycles.
Takeaway
Through bugs, scandals and bubbles, the rules kept working: blocks kept coming and the supply schedule never changed.