Bitcoin Timeline and Milestones

2009

“The Prime Minister is about to hold a second vote for the bank” in the Genesis Bitcoin Block 0 – this can be said to be the first data written by Satoshi Nakamoto

2011

Namecoin - Bitcoin “sidechain” for registering names – attaching values ​​(data) to names (keys), up to 520 bytes

Also – what is a “sidechain”?

A sidechain is a blockchain whose consensus rules necessarily involve verifying data from another blockchain (called the main chain). The concept of sidechains was first proposed by Satoshi Nakamoto in 2010 and was first put into production by Namecoin in October 2011.

2012

Colored Coins - "Colored" coins, i.e. Satoshis encoding unique digital tokens/assets on Bitcoin itself (no "sidechains")

2014

80-byte data limit introduced for OP_RETURN

Counterparty and OmniLayer (formerly Mastercoin) - new "protocols" for unique digital tokens/assets

Quantum minted by Kevin McCoy (born 1967) on May 2, 2014 (via Namecoin block 174923) - arguably the first ever digitally authenticated ownership (or provenance) "non-fungible token" for digital art, known as a "monegraph", short for "monetized graph".

Trivia recap - Namecoin records expire (no renewal after 250 days) and "EarlyNFT" snapped up the record via namecoin to claim ownership via blockchain title/deed, while McCoy and Sotheby's auctioned "Quantum NFTs" in 2021.

2015

Block size war begins

Spells of Genesis (trading card game) via Counterparty

2016

Rare Pepes - The first Rare Pepes were mined on Bitcoin block number 428 919. Rare Pepe images on Counterparty look like trading cards and are limited in number (1 774 total across 36 series). The Rare Pepe wallet allows users to buy, sell and store Rare Pepe cards.

2017

Segregated Witness “SegWit” Bitcoin “Soft Fork” Protocol Upgrade - Introducing 4MB Block Limit

2021

TapRoot Bitcoin “Soft Fork” Protocol Upgrade - Introducing New Taproot Script; Relaxing Data Limits

2022

Casey Rodarmor Releases Ordinals Client to Public

2023

First 4MB Inscription (.jpeg image from Udi Wertheimer’s Taproot Wizard series) Minted (and Mined by Luxor Pool)

Last night, we made history. The gatekeepers tried to censor us.

But we mined the largest block and largest transaction in Bitcoin history

Special thanks to the Bitcoin full node operators for supporting our efforts and hosting our 4MB inscriptions in perpetuity!

— Udi Wertheimer, February 2, 2023

Inscriptions are surging - 500,000 and counting…