Key Takeaways:
- Bitcoin celebrates the 17th anniversary of its whitepaper release, marking over $2 trillion in market value.
- BTC trades around $110,000, slightly below its $126,000 all-time high, amid a $13.4B options expiry event.
- Satoshi Nakamoto’s 2008 vision continues to redefine global finance, shifting from peer-to-peer cash to an institutional asset class.
Seventeen years ago, on October 31, 2008, a nine-page document quietly changed the course of financial history. Titled Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System, the whitepaper authored by the mysterious Satoshi Nakamoto laid the foundation for the world’s first decentralized currency. Bitcoin is now a $2 trillion asset in the global market, worth $110,000, and the future of digital finance.
Read More: Robert Kiyosaki Predicts Bitcoin to Hit $200,000 in 2025 Says “Losers Lose”
Satoshi’s Vision Turns 17
The Birth of Bitcoin
First published in a small cryptography mailing list, the original whitepaper described a digital currency that would be able to run without intermediaries (banks, etc.). To avoid double-spending, it suggested a peer-to-peer network which utilises Proof-of-Work (PoW), which was a key innovation that led to the birth of blockchain technology.
Only three months after this, on January 3, 2009, Nakamoto mined the Genesis Block, including a message of The Times newspaper: “Chancellor on brink of second bailout for banks.” This quote was a sign of the mission of Bitcoin, which was a direct answer to the 2008 financial crisis and the instability of the centralized banks. Out of that rebellious act, the basis of a brand new asset category was formed.
From Cypherpunk Code to Institutional Asset
The $2 Trillion Transformation
What started as a niche project by early cryptographers has developed into a multi-trillion dollar industry now being acknowledged by Wall Street and the governments of the world. By the end of 2025, the value of Bitcoin is expected to drop to the seventh most valuable asset in the world, only after Meta and before silver.
Over 353 institutional entities, including BlackRock, Fidelity, and Tesla, now hold a combined 4 million BTC, roughly 20% of total supply. Even governments from El Salvador to the United States have accumulated Bitcoin reserves, confirming its position as a strategic asset rather than a fringe experiment.
ETFs and the Institutional Wave
In 2024, spot Bitcoin ETFs were approved, and this changed the market dynamics. Bitcoin ETFs had inflows of $4.57 billion in early October 2025, and total assets under management reached $154.8 billion, equivalent to approximately 7% of the total market cap of Bitcoin. These structured investment vehicles allowed both pension funds, corporations as well as retail investors to have exposure without directly managing the asset
Bitcoin, once branded “magic internet money,” now trades alongside traditional securities and even underpins regulated financial products across continents.
Read More: BlackRock Transfers $226M in Bitcoin and Ethereum to Coinbase Prime for ETF Rebalancing
Bitcoin at $110,000: A Milestone and a Test
Price Performance and Market Volatility
Bitcoin is trading at approximately $110,000 as it celebrates its 17th birthday, which is a loss of $126,199, its highest point of the year, set earlier this month. Even after the correction, Bitcoin is up more than 180% since the beginning of the year, fueled by institutional buying and anticipation of a new monetary easing cycle by the Federal Reserve of the United States
However, traders are watching closely as $13.4 billion in BTC options and $2.5 billion in ETH options are set to expire on October 31, coinciding with Bitcoin’s “birthday.” Strike prices around $113,000 and $4,100 could trigger heightened volatility as positions are settled, influencing November’s opening trend.
This is the highest crypto options expiry since March 2025, which may open new liquidity folders across the derivatives markets.
Market Perspectives
Crypto analysts describe the recent pullback as a “healthy deleveraging”, a necessary reset after months of leveraged growth. Short-term volatility is observed but long-term sentiment is completely bullish.
Michael Saylor, CEO of MicroStrategy, recently told CNBC that Bitcoin could reach $150,000 by year’s end, calling it “the purest form of capital ever invented.” In the meantime, Geoff Kendrick of Standard Chartered estimates a figure of $300,000 by 2026, with increased institutional adoption and the subsequent demand of ETFs
The Bitcoin whitepaper is one of the most effective documents in the history of the modern economy. Its concepts: decentralized, censorship-resistance, and fixed supply remain inspirational to the wider crypto space, such as Ethereum, DeFi and Web3 apps. The idea of 21 million limited coins pioneered by Satoshi created a scarcity approach that is similar to gold, which propelled its storyline as “digital gold”.