Bitcoin’s blockchain has processed 1 billion transactions, 15 years after its creation

The
Bitcoin
network
has
achieved
a
significant
milestone
today
by
processing
its
one
billionth
transaction,
marking
a
momentous
occasion
in
the
cryptocurrency’s
roughly
15-year
history.

The
milestone
was
reached
on
May
5,
2023,
at
9:34
pm
UTC,
when
transaction
#1,000,000,000
was
mined
into
block
842,241.

This
landmark
event
comes
15
years,
four
months,
and
four
days
after
Bitcoin’s
pseudonymous
creator,
Satoshi
Nakamoto,
mined
the
network’s
first
block
on
January
3,
2009.
Over
the
course
of
its
5,603-day
existence,
Bitcoin
has
processed
an
average
of
178,475
daily
transactions.

Notably,
though,
this
transaction
count
does
not
include
those
made
on
the
Lightning
Network,
a
Bitcoin
layer
2
network.

The
milestone
comes
at
an
exciting
time
for
Bitcoin,
which
has
seen
heightened
levels
of
daily
transactions
over
the
past
year
as
novel
protocols
like

Bitcoin
Ordinals
and

Runes
attract
more
activity
to
the
world’s
first
blockchain.
The
launch
of
spot
Bitcoin
ETFs
has
also
contributed
to
bullish
sentiment
for
the
token.

Daily
transactions
on
Bitcoin
spiked
around
the
network’s

fourth
halving
event
on
April
20,
including
a
record
high
of
926,000
transactions
processed
on
April
23.
Much
of
this
demand
can
be
attributed
to
the
launch
of
the
Runes
protocol,
a
new
Bitcoin
token
standard,
at
block
840,000.
However,
Bitcoin’s
daily
transaction
count
has
since
cooled
off
to
660,260
on
May
4.

Bitcoin
is
not
the
first
blockchain
to
process
over
a
billion
transactions
though.
Ethereum,
for
instance,
has
processed
well
over
2
billion
transactions,
despite
being
launched
roughly
six
years
after
Bitcoin.

Bitcoin
is
currently
trading
at
the
$63,700
level,
easing
into
a
12%
increase
in
price
rebound
since
its
two-month
low
of
$56,800
on
May
2.
It
is
still
down
by
13.6%
from
its
previous
all-time
high
of
$73,740
set
on
March
13
this
year.