An illustrated guide of Bitcoin through the years

by

Team Luno

May 23, 2023 · 7 minute read

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ENG: A decade of Luno

Jan 2009
The beginning

Bitcoin officially launches, with creator “Satoshi Nakamoto” mining the first bitcoins.

March 2010
The first exchange

The first crypto exchange Bitcoinmarket.com is launched.

May 2010
Come to Papa

Floridian Laszlo Hanyecz buys two Papa Johns pizzas for 10,000 BTC, worth about $41 at the time.

April 2011
Dollar parity

Bitcoin breaks $1 for the first time.

November 2012
Bitcoin halving

The first Bitcoin halving event in November 2012 takes place, preceding a massive price spike in 2013.

July 2013
Luno founded as ‘BitX’

Having realised that it was difficult to buy Bitcoin in his home country, South Africa, Timothy Stranex launches the first local exchange.

February 2014
Blazing a trail

Luno presents the very first fully bank-integrated Bitcoin product in the world at the FinovateEurope conference.

February 2014
Mount Gox erupts

Mount Gox collapses following a hack, handling roughly 70% of all bitcoin transactions at the time.

October 2015
A storage revolution

The BitX Smart Wallet is released. It is still considered one of the most innovative Bitcoin wallet products in the world today.

July 2016
The second Bitcoin halving

The second halving again set into motion a cycle marked by all-time highs at the time. By December 2017, the price is up by around 3,000% and trading for $19,738.

January 2017
To the moon

BitX officially rebrands as Luno, which means ‘Moon’ in Esperanto, a universal language not tied to any specific country. Just like Bitcoin.

September 2017
Luno goes west

Luno launches in Europe for the first time

DecemberNovember 2017
The future’s bright

Bitcoin hits an all-time high of just below $20k after an unprecedented bull run. Bitcoin debuts on the world’s largest futures exchange, the Chicago Mercantile Exchange.

April 2018
Recognition for Luno

Luno wins 'fastest growing tech company in UK' in TNW's Tech 5 competition

November 2019
Blazing a regulatory trail

Luno relaunches in Malaysia after becoming one of just three companies to receive full approval to operate by the country’s Securities Commission

May 2020
The third halving

As with previous BTC halvings, the price climbs steadily after the halving event before climbing to all-time highs the following year.

August 2020
Saylor goes fishing

Michael Saylor, the founder of MicroStrategy, invests $250 million in BTC through his company, making MicroStrategy one of the first corporate investors in BTC and continues to be the largest today, holding around 140,000 BTC.

September 2020
DCG acquires Luno

New York-based DCG, an investment firm that has backed more than 160 blockchain companies around the world, acquires Luno with the promise to aid global expansion

April 2021
The Tesla effect

The global economy gets going again after hibernating during the Covid-19 pandemic. Tesla also announces a $1.5 billion investment in BTC.

October 2021
BTC Futures ETF

The first BTC Futures ETF in the US is approved

April 2022
Luno hits 10 million customers

After nine years in business, Luno hits the ten million customer mark as interest in crypto hits all-time highs

July 2023
Looking to the future

Luno celebrates a decade of supporting people across the world with their crypto, launching a raft of new products to help people take advantage of the growing opportunities. What will the next ten years look like?

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Investing in cryptocurrency may result in the loss of capital as the value can fluctuate.