Bitcoin, the most valuable digital currency globally, began on January 3, 2009, with its first block called the genesis block. Fast forward over 800 weeks, Bitcoin has now processed more than one billion transactions. 

This milestone arrives at a time of heightened excitement around Bitcoin, with daily transaction volumes sharply rising over the past year. New features like Bitcoin Ordinals and Runes, alongside the introduction of spot Bitcoin ETFs, have driven this surge in activity.

Although Ethereum, Bitcoin’s competitor, has handled nearly 2.4 billion transactions, Bitcoin’s journey to this point has been steadier but slower, averaging six transactions per second in the last month. 

This milestone coincided with Bitcoin’s recent halving event, which reduced the reward for mining new blocks. Since then, the cost of processing transactions has decreased, yet daily transaction volumes remain high, particularly compared to most of Bitcoin’s history, except for the past year.

The achievement of processing one billion transactions is significant for Bitcoin, considering it took roughly 800 weeks, or about 15 years, since its inception. This milestone is noteworthy when compared to traditional payment giants like Visa, which took a longer time to reach a similar transaction volume. 

Additional facts include the introduction of the Runes Protocol in April 2024, credited with contributing to the surge in Bitcoin transactions. Supporters of Bitcoin view this milestone as evidence of its increasing adoption and its potential to compete with established payment networks.

Overall, reaching the billion-transaction mark is a positive sign for Bitcoin’s price and future, and it will be interesting to see how its adoption and transaction volume evolve in the coming years.