Bitcoin was created by Satoshi Nakamoto in 2009, with draft code for payment channels included in the original software. The community worked to develop the Lightning Network to realize Bitcoin's mission of a peer-to-peer electronic cash system.

Crypto prices continue to climb higher, with bitcoin firmly above $24,000. Equities linked to cryptocurrency and blockchain technology traded down. 

New academic study from the US Federal Reserve System concludes that Bitcoin’s “orthogonal properties” make it an ideal defensive asset for hedging traditional financial assets, challenging the popular opinion that Bitcoin is only a speculative asset.

The Bitcoin (BTC) price rose to a new six-month high of $24,800 on February 16, registering a double-digit surge of 15%. 

Bitcoin (BTC) has rallied nearly 50% in the first seven weeks of the year, reaching a six-month high of $24,900, with outside forces like the sentiment in traditional markets largely supportive. Recently, the crypto market and Wall Street's tech-heavy Nasdaq index have grown resilient to the Federal Reserve's (Fed) angst and the resulting uptick in Treasury yields. Bitcoin's 90-day correlation coefficient with Nasdaq has increased to 0.75, indicating the two assets are moving in tandem.

Traders betting on a market-wide decline were caught off guard as a broader market recovery in the past 24 hours saw $185 million in shorts, or bets against price rises, getting liquidated.

Bitcoin and crypto markets are surging today, bolstered by positive news that Hong Kong will be opening the doors to welcome digital assets and investors.

El Salvador, the first country in the world to make Bitcoin legal tender, plans to open a “Bitcoin embassy” in Texas, the country’s U.S. ambassador, Milena Mayorga, tweeted on Wednesday. This follows a similar initiative in Switzerland last year to support the use of cryptocurrencies. Mayorga described Texas as a “new ally” and said she had met with Deputy Secretary of the Government of Texas, Joe Esparza, to discuss opening the Bitcoin office and the expansion of commercial and exchange projects. Texas is host to major Bitcoin mining operations. (forkast)

Galaxy Digital Holdings CEO, Mike Novogratz, believes there's a chance Bitcoin could return to $30,000 or above before the end of March. According to a Feb. 15 Bloomberg report Novogratz spoke at a Bank of America conference the same day and said he would’ve been the “happiest guy” if 2022 ended with BTC at $30,000, but added: “When I look at the price action, when I look at the excitement of the customers calling, the FOMO building up, it wouldn’t surprise me if we were at $30,000 by the end of the quarter.” (Cointelegraph)

Ordinals and Inscriptions are a most unexpected event in Bitcoin history, but have resulted in a new, and likely longstanding demand for Bitcoin blockspace.