比特幣現在正處於突破 10 萬美元一度神話估值的風口浪尖

儘管在 15 年的歷史中經歷了挫折和低迷，比特幣現在正處於突破曾經神話般的 10 萬美元估值的風口浪尖。

Bitcoin is close to reaching a value of $100,000 for the first time ever, a remarkable achievement that comes despite setbacks and slumps over its 15-year history.

比特幣的價值首次接近 10 萬美元，儘管在其 15 年的歷史中經歷了挫折和低迷，但仍取得了非凡的成就。

The world's premier cryptocurrency has had a stellar year, more than doubling in valuation since January 1. It is currently hovering at around $99,000 as of publication time, having briefly reaching $99,347 at around 3:00 a.m. ET.

這種全球首屈一指的加密貨幣經歷了輝煌的一年，自1 月1 日以來估值翻了一番多。達到99,347 美元。

"$100k means many of Bitcoin's fiercest critics have some crow to eat," Garrick Hileman, an economic historian and cryptocurrency researcher, told Newsweek. "Bitcoiners in 2021-22 who adopted the 'laser eyes until $100k' mantra were widely ridiculed at the time when the price collapsed the following year. We know who is laughing now."

經濟歷史學家兼加密貨幣研究員加里克·希勒曼 (Garrick Hileman) 告訴《新聞周刊》：“10 萬美元意味著許多比特幣最激烈的批評者有一些烏鴉可吃。” “2021-22 年比特幣愛好者們採用了‘激光眼直到 10 萬美元’的口號，當第二年價格暴跌時，他們受到了廣泛的嘲笑。我們知道現在誰在笑。”

The steady 2024 success of the cryptocurrency is owed largely to a decision by the Securities and Exchange Commission, which in March approved the use of U.S.-listed exchange traded funds (ETFs) to track Bitcoin.

加密貨幣在 2024 年的穩定成功很大程度上歸功於美國證券交易委員會的一項決定，該委員會於 3 月批准使用在美國上市的交易所交易基金 (ETF) 來追蹤比特幣。

But the most recent surge comes on the heels of President-elect Donald Trump's victory in the 2024 presidential election, and the belief that his incoming administration will usher in more crypto-friendly policies.

但最近的一次激增是在當選總統唐納德·川普 (Donald Trump) 在 2024 年總統選舉中獲勝之後發生的，人們相信他即將上任的政府將推出更加有利於加密貨幣的政策。

Since the first transaction in 2009, Bitcoin's rise has been nothing short of meteoric. According to the 2024 Crypto Wealth Report, the number of millionaires whose wealth comes from Bitcoin now stands at 85,400, a rise of 111 percent in the past 12 months.

自 2009 年第一筆交易以來，比特幣的崛起可謂是快速發展。根據《2024 年加密貨幣財富報告》，目前擁有比特幣財富的百萬富翁人數為 85,400 人，在過去 12 個月內增長了 111%。

But for all its recent success, Bitcoin's history is fraught with fluctuations in price, legal challenges to the cryptocurrency market, and cautionary tales about the risks of speculative investing in such an untraditional asset.

但儘管比特幣最近取得了成功，但它的歷史充滿了價格波動、加密貨幣市場的法律挑戰，以及對這種非傳統資產進行投機性投資風險的警世故事。

What is Bitcoin?

什麼是比特幣？

Bitcoin was created by Satoshi Nakamoto, the pseudonym given to the individual or individuals who in 2008 authored a white paper outlining their vision for "a purely peer-to-peer version of electronic cash."

比特幣是由中本聰 (Satoshi Nakamoto) 創建的，中本聰在 2008 年撰寫了一份白皮書，概述了他們對「純粹的點對點版本的電子現金」的願景。

This decentralized currency, Nakamoto wrote, would "allow online payments to be sent directly from one party to another without going through a financial institution."

中本聰寫道，這種去中心化的貨幣將“允許線上支付直接從一方發送到另一方，而無需通過金融機構。”

Unlike traditional money controlled by governments, Bitcoin is managed by a network of computers all around the world. These computers follow the same rules, ensuring no single person or entity can control it.

與政府控制的傳統貨幣不同，比特幣由世界各地的電腦網路管理。這些計算機遵循相同的規則，確保任何個人或實體都無法控制它。

Each transaction is recorded in a public database called the blockchain—grouped together (blocks) and linked in chronological order (the chain).

每筆交易都記錄在稱為區塊鏈的公共資料庫中 - 分組在一起（區塊）並按時間順序連結（鏈）。

To ensure that the Bitcoin, like traditional currencies, does not suffer the effects of inflation, there is a finite supply of only 21 million. New Bitcoins are created through a process called mining, in which powerful computers are used to to solve complex math problems, which validate transactions and add them to the blockchain. Of the 21 million in existence, around 19 million have been mined.

為了確保比特幣像傳統貨幣一樣不受通貨膨脹的影響，其供應量有限，僅需2,100萬個。新的比特幣是透過稱為「挖礦」的過程創建的，其中使用強大的計算機來解決複雜的數學問題，驗證交易並將其添加到區塊鏈中。在現存的 2,100 萬顆中，約有 1,900 萬顆已被開採。

Mined coins can be used to buy goods and services from those that accept them, be sent across borders, or be held as investment to sell off whenever Bitcoin undergoes one of its bull runs.

開採的硬幣可用於從接受它們的人那裡購買商品和服務，跨境發送，或作為投資持有，以便在比特幣經歷一輪牛市時出售。

How has Bitcoin reached the $100K milestone?

比特幣是如何達到 10 萬美元的里程碑？

The cryptocurrency hit its first major milestone in 2017, reaching nearly $20,000 before plummeting to nearly $3,000 by the end of 2018. Its crash, which some compared to the bursting of the dot-com bubble, came amid fears that the crypto market was plagued by fraud, and that these non-physical currency could be easily taken out by only one government directive.

這種加密貨幣在2017 年達到了第一個重要里程碑，達到近20,000 美元，然後在2018 年底暴跌至近3,000 美元。市場受到困擾的情況下發生的。

While these concerns tempered growth for years, its next surge came in 2021, when Bitcoin soared to $60,000, driven by growing institutional interest and its increased adoption as a potential hedge against inflation.

儘管這些擔憂多年來抑制了增長，但下一次飆升出現在 2021 年，當時比特幣飆升至 60,000 美元，原因是機構興趣不斷增長，以及人們越來越多地採用比特幣作為潛在的通膨對沖工具。

This high was again short-lived, with Bitcoin shedding nearly half of its value by mid-2021, which Time attributed to China's legislative "crackdown" on Bitcoin mining, as well as Elon Musk announcing that his company, Tesla, would suspend vehicle purchases using the cryptocurrency.

這個高點再次是短暫的，到2021 年中期，比特幣的價值已經蒸發了近一半，《時代》雜誌將其歸因於中國對比特幣挖礦的立法“打擊”，以及埃隆·馬斯克宣布他的公司特斯拉將暫停購買汽車使用加密貨幣。

While it returned to $69,000 by November 2021, the Federal Reserve began to raise interest rates to combat inflation, dissuading investors form the riskier assets such as Bitcoin and ushering in what the World Economic Forum referred to as a "crypto winter." Investors confidence was further rocked by the implosion of FTX, one of the world's largest cryptocurrency exchanges, in late 2022. Bitcoin finished the year at $16,548.

雖然到 2021 年 11 月它回到了 69,000 美元，但聯準會開始提高利率以對抗通貨膨脹，勸阻投資者放棄比特幣等風險較高的資產，並迎來世界經濟論壇所說的「加密貨幣冬天」。 2022 年底，全球最大的加密貨幣交易所之一 FTX 的崩盤進一步動搖了投資者的信心。

"In the future, 2022 may be regarded as a turning point for the world of virtual currencies, when they lost their luster and were cast out as a fringe product most people approach with skepticism

「未來，2022年可能被視為虛擬貨幣世界的轉折點，屆時它們將失去光彩，並被視為大多數人持懷疑態度的邊緣產品。