Bitcoin turns 18: Has the original rebel grown up?

Eighteen years ago today, pseudonymous cypherpunk Satoshi Nakamoto posted the Bitcoin whitepaper, Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System, to a cryptography mailing list.

Created to bypass opaque institutions and remove the need for trust in financial transactions, Bitcoin (BTC) has been taking on the traditional financial system since its genesis block was mined on Jan. 3, 2009.

Inscribed in that very first block was a message from Satoshi, quoting a headline from The Times: “Chancellor on brink of second bailout for banks.” It captured the financial crisis backdrop against which Bitcoin was born.

From its early years to adulthood, Bitcoin has had a tumultuous journey, fraught with controversy, intrigue and downright skulduggery.