Bitcoin White Paper Released 18 Years: Wall Street Embraces Crypto Assets, Decentralization Principles Face Challenges

According to Bloomberg, on October 31, 2008, Satoshi Nakamoto released the Bitcoin white paper, proposing a peer-to-peer electronic payment system that does not require the participation of banks or central institutions. Over the past 18 years, Bitcoin has evolved from a marginal experiment in early dark web and forums to an asset class recognized by Wall Street and institutional investors. In October last year, there was still $19 billion in leveraged positions liquidated in a single day, and the crypto winter of 2022 caused the market value of digital assets to evaporate by more than $2 trillion.

On the 18th anniversary of the Bitcoin white paper's release, the price of Bitcoin hovers around $80,000, facing its worst month since June.

Today, the Bitcoin ETF launched by BlackRock has reached a scale of approximately $66 billion, with several publicly listed companies incorporating Bitcoin into their balance sheets. Traditional financial institutions are also actively laying out stablecoins, asset tokenization, and blockchain financial infrastructure. However, this development also brings a certain contrast: Bitcoin was originally intended to challenge the centralized financial system, but it is now increasingly being accepted by traditional financial institutions.