Bitcoin edges close to all-time high as it marks its sweet 16th birthday

Bitcoin should apply for a license, given the way it's driving into all-time highs. 

The world's largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization reached its 16th anniversary. On Oct. 31, 2008, Bitcoin's pseudonymous creator, Satoshi Nakamoto , released the Bitcoin white paper detailing its structure.

Around its sixteenth anniversary, Bitcoin surpassed $70,000 for the first time in over seven months and could approach an all-time high above $73,000 . 

Bitcoin currently trades at $71,864 with a market capitalization of $1.4 trillion as of 9:41 a.m. ET (13:41 UTC) on Oct. 31, according to The Block Prices. The token's price is up around 70% since the beginning of 2024, TradingView data shows. 

What's more, Bitcoin monthly transactions are at a record high. The number of Bitcoin transactions in October reached 20.1 million as of publication, breaking past July's previous peak of 19.51 million transactions. 

Bitcoin's big year

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission approved 11 spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) on Jan. 10 this year, with trade commencing the following day. Since then, spot bitcoin ETFs have amassed nearly $460 million in cumulative volume. BlackRock's   IBIT largely led the pack throughout the year and even saw its highest total daily net inflows of $870 million just yesterday — the highest in seven months.

An HBO documentary , "Money Electric: The Bitcoin Mystery," also spotlighted Bitcoin's pseudonymous creator again. It attempted to unveil the mysterious figure and pointed to developer Peter Todd . However, internet users and Bitcoin developers alike pushed back against Todd being Satoshi Nakamoto, citing flawed evidence.

This time last year, on Bitcoin's 15th anniversary, SEC Chair Gary Gensler wished the cryptocurrency a happy anniversary and followed up with a Halloween joke. "If Satoshi Nakamoto went as Satoshi Nakamoto for Halloween, would we be able to tell?" he wrote on the social media platform X.