Bitcoin marks the 18th anniversary of the release of its white paper. It has taken root in mainstream finance and grown into a major investment asset, but security challenges remain, including exchange hacking, threats from quantum computers and shrinking mining rewards.

On Oct. 31 (local time), blockchain outlet Cointelegraph reported that Bitcoin has been rapidly integrated into mainstream finance since the approval of spot exchange-traded funds (ETFs). At the same time, debate is growing over preserving decentralisation and securing a long-term security framework.

Bitcoin began with a white paper released by Satoshi Nakamoto (사토시 나카모토) on Oct. 31, 2008. The genesis block mined on Jan. 3, 2009 carried a headline from The Times: "Chancellor on brink of second bailout for banks."

Bitcoin then grew through payment experiments, speculative booms, exchange collapses and clashes with regulation. A 2010 case in which Laszlo Hanyecz (라즐로 하니예츠) paid 10,000 BTC for 2 pizzas remains a representative early transaction. In 2013, the price topped $1,000 for the first time, but the following year the collapse of Mt. Gox saw about 850,000 BTC disappear, shocking the market.

In 2017, the price climbed from below $1,000 at the start of the year to $20,000 in December. A "block size war" over network scaling that year led to the Bitcoin Cash hard fork. Jamie Dimon (제이미 다이먼), CEO of JPMorgan, criticised Bitcoin as a fraud, and China’s ban on initial coin offerings (ICOs) and crackdown on exchanges also increased market uncertainty.

The next turning point was the COVID-19 pandemic. Bitcoin, which plunged in March 2020, rebounded on expanded liquidity and neared $69,000 in November 2021. Market confidence was shaken again as China followed a blanket ban on cryptocurrency trading and mining that year with the November 2022 collapse of FTX.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) approval of Bitcoin spot exchange-traded products (ETPs) in January 2024 opened the door to mainstream entry. Investors were able to invest in Bitcoin through regulated financial products without directly managing wallets or private keys. Later that year, Bitcoin topped $100,000 for the first time, and in October 2025 it rose above $126,000 to set an all-time high (ATH). Dimon also shifted his stance to allow customers to buy Bitcoin, separate from his criticism.

Concerns are also emerging that mainstream integration could weaken Bitcoin’s decentralisation. Banks are entering custody and trading services, and Larry Fink (래리 핑크), CEO of BlackRock, mentioned tokenisation of stocks and bonds. Some Bitcoin supporters warn that growing holdings by large institutions could lead to supply concentration and centralisation.

Security issues have also resurfaced. Attention has focused on a recent $6.3 billion Binance hack and continued warnings that quantum computers could threaten Bitcoin’s cryptographic system. Responses such as BIP-360, a Bitcoin Improvement Proposal, are being discussed, but as shown in the past block size war, it is not easy to secure consensus among network participants.

Over the longer term, the structure of miner rewards is a key task. As block subsidies shrink with each halving, transaction fees accounted for 0.67 percent of total miner revenue over the most recent 90 days through Oct. 4. For most of Bitcoin’s history, the fee share also stayed below 5 percent. The key question is whether the network can maintain security by offsetting falling subsidies with fee income.

Over 18 years since the white paper release, Bitcoin has grown from an experimental digital asset into a mainstream investment asset, weathering exchange collapses, regulatory crackdowns and sharp market declines. The challenge now is to preserve decentralisation even as it is integrated into mainstream finance, and to lay the foundation for maintaining network security over the long term.