For the first time in its 15-year history, the Bitcoin network has completed its billionth transaction, a significant milestone for the pioneering blockchain. Data from Clark Moody showed that on May 5 at 9:34 pm UTC, BTC hit 1,000,000,000 transactions. An average of 178,475 daily transactions have been performed on Bitcoin in its 5,603 days.
While Bitcoin’s billionth transaction is certainly cause for celebration, it’s worth noting that Ethereum, its main competitor, has already surpassed this milestone. Since its launch in July 2015, the second-largest decentralized network has processed more than 2 billion transactions, demonstrating its widespread utility and popularity among users and developers alike.
Reflecting on the journey of Bitcoin, it’s remarkable to consider how far the dominant cryptocurrency has come since its inception. Fifteen years, four months, and four days have passed since the mysterious figure known as Satoshi Nakamoto mined the genesis block on January 3, 2009, heralding the birth of BTC and the blockchain revolution.
Despite facing skepticism and challenges along the way, Bitcoin has evolved into a globally recognized digital asset with a growing ecosystem of supporters, developers, and enthusiasts. Its decentralized nature, security features, and limited supply have cemented its status as a store of value and a hedge against traditional financial systems.
StarkWare’s ZK-Proofs Solve Bitcoin’s Blockchain Trilemma
As Bitcoin continues to mature and innovate, its billionth transaction serves as a testament to its resilience and staying power in an ever-changing landscape. Not long ago, the BTC network was bolstered by the launch of Ethereum scaling solution StarkWare’s zero-knowledge proofs [ZK-proofs/ZKPs]. With these, individual blocks and eventually the entire blockchain can be verified faster by users.
ZeroSync, the non-profit entity, was tasked with building tools to validate the state of the BTC network without having to download the blockchain or trust a third party for verification. In a paper published by StarkWare on August 20, 2022, the software firm first proposed the method for effectively verifying ECDSA from within the STARK ecosystem, potentially overcoming the blockchain trilemma for Bitcoin—i.e., attaining scalability, security, and decentralization concurrently.
With ongoing developments in scalability, privacy, and usability, the future of Bitcoin looks promising, paving the way for further adoption and integration into mainstream finance and beyond.
