Seventeen years ago on January 3rd, the Bitcoin network officially launched. The anonymous programmer left a message in the genesis block — a news headline from The Times on that day: "Chancellor to Bail Out Banks for Second Time." This is not just a simple timestamp; it’s more like a silent protest against the entire traditional financial system.

Time has passed, and the price chart of Bitcoin has long surpassed mere market data. It has gradually evolved into a mirror — reflecting macroeconomic cycles, geopolitical struggles, and clashes of technological beliefs.

**Birth in Crisis and Early Exploration (2009-2016)**

Bitcoin rose from the ashes of the 2008 financial crisis, initially positioned as "peer-to-peer electronic cash." This ideal resonated with the chaos of the banking system at the time.

Several landmark moments in the early days illustrate this well: in 2010, someone exchanged 10,000 Bitcoins for two pizzas — the first time digital assets were priced with real-world goods. Then the story became more complex — on one side, the shadow of the dark web loomed; on the other, the groundbreaking innovation of underlying blockchain technology shined.

The collapse of Mt. Gox exchange in 2014 made many think Bitcoin was doomed. But the network itself is like a cockroach that can’t be killed; even in storms, its core mechanisms remain resilient. During those years, global central banks flooded the market with liquidity, and quantitative easing became the norm — against this backdrop, some began to realize that perhaps Bitcoin is worth paying more attention to.