It was Halloween 2008when Satoshi Nakamoto, which may be a pseudonym for one or moreprogrammers, published a paper titled 'Bitcoin: A Peer-to-PeerElectronic Cash System.' Did he, she or they know what was beingunleashed? (Photo:Shutterstock)

(Bloomberg) –Happy Anniversary to Bitcoin!

It was Halloween 2008 when Satoshi Nakamoto, which may be apseudonym for one or more programmers, published a paper titled“Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System.”

Did he, she or they know what was being unleashed? Ten yearslater, the digital currency developed by the still unknown creatoris valued at more than $6,250 even with the wild fluctuations ofthe past year.

Since the first Bitcoins were sold privately, it's not clear howto assign an original value. One of the first known transactionswas in May 2010 for 10,000 Bitcoins to indirectly buy two pizzasfor about $30, or less than a cent for each Bitcoin.

A decade or so later, the size of the cryptocurrency market itspawned is estimated at more than $200 billion.

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