The Bitcoin network has reached a major milestone, processing its one billionth transaction yesterday, an achievement comes 15 years and 4 months after Bitcoin’s genesis block was mined on January 3, 2009.

JUST IN: #Bitcoin has officially processed over 1 billion transactions. pic.twitter.com/bFbSW5NEAW

— Bitcoin Magazine (@BitcoinMagazine) May 5, 2024

At an average rate of 178,475 transactions per day over its 5,603-day lifespan so far, Bitcoin has demonstrated the ability to handle significant volume securely without centralized intermediaries.

Many early critics argued nobody would use Bitcoin, but today, the network handles daily transaction volumes on par with major payments giants. 

This milestone also comes on the heels of Bitcoin’s recent all-time high above $73,000 in March 2024. The excitement around the latest halving event and new protocols like Ordinals and Runes have driven surges in network activity.

All told, April 23 saw a single-day transaction record above 926,000, and while volume has moderated from those highs, Bitcoin continues averaging 600,000+ transactions in May 2024.

By reliably facilitating 1 billion transactions in just 15 years, Bitcoin has proven its resilience and capacity at scale. And with accelerating adoption, Bitcoin appears poised to reach the next billion transactions at an even faster pace.

The milestone highlights how far Bitcoin has come since its experimental early days. What was once dismissed as a playground for enthusiasts is now a trillion-dollar asset class that is too important for institutions to ignore.

The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.