Eight years later, Bitcoin crossed the $5,000 milestone during the extraordinary 2017 bull market. Subsequent October 12 developments included Coinbase’s entry into the NFT marketplace business, warnings from the International Monetary Fund, revelations about record cryptocurrency thefts, and the courtroom disclosure of an incriminating recording during Sam Bankman-Fried’s fraud trial.
More recently, October 12, 2025, brought Binance’s confirmation of approximately $283 million in compensation following one of the cryptocurrency market’s most severe liquidation episodes.
October 12, 2009: Bitcoin Completes Its First Known Trade for US Dollars
On October 12, 2009, Finnish software developer Martti Malmi, an early Bitcoin contributor who worked directly with Satoshi Nakamoto, completed what is widely recognized as the first documented exchange of Bitcoin for traditional currency.
Malmi sold 5,050 BTC to a buyer operating under the name NewLibertyStandard in exchange for $5.02, transferred through PayPal.
The transaction valued each Bitcoin at approximately $0.000994, or roughly one-tenth of a US cent.
Bitcoin had launched in January 2009, but it had no established liquid market. Participants generally obtained coins by mining or receiving transfers from other users.
New Liberty Standard had published an indicative Bitcoin exchange rate on October 5, calculated partly from electricity costs associated with mining. The October 12 transaction was different: money actually changed hands.
Malmi subsequently confirmed the transaction using records from his email archives. He explained that he participated partly to support the emerging exchange service and demonstrate that Bitcoin could be traded for conventional money.
The sale preceded the famous May 2010 Bitcoin pizza transaction and remains an important early milestone in cryptocurrency price discovery.
Original source: Martti Malmi’s first-person account, published by History of Bitcoin.
October 12, 2017: Bitcoin Breaks Above $5,000 for the First Time
On October 12, 2017, Bitcoin surged above $5,000, reaching a new record as investors continued buying the cryptocurrency despite regulatory pressure and concerns about speculative valuations.
Bitcoin climbed more than 8% during early trading, with contemporaneous reports recording prices above $5,200 and later approximately $5,300.
The achievement followed a turbulent September, when Chinese authorities moved against cryptocurrency exchanges and initial coin offerings. Bitcoin had temporarily fallen below $3,000 before recovering sharply.
The October rally demonstrated the strength of speculative demand despite uncertainty surrounding the industry’s regulatory future.
Bitcoin had begun 2017 trading below $1,000. Its move beyond $5,000 represented more than a fivefold increase since the beginning of the year.
The market was also anticipating further changes to Bitcoin’s underlying protocol, including a controversial proposed scaling fork scheduled for November.
By December 2017, Bitcoin would approach $20,000 before entering an extended bear market. The October 12 milestone became one of the defining price records of cryptocurrency’s first major mainstream investment boom.
Contemporaneous source: The Guardian, October 12, 2017.
October 12, 2021: Coinbase Announces NFT Marketplace Plans
On October 12, 2021, Coinbase announced plans to launch Coinbase NFT, a peer-to-peer marketplace designed to help users create, purchase, display and discover non-fungible tokens.
The cryptocurrency exchange opened an early-access waiting list and outlined plans to combine NFT trading with social networking features intended to connect creators and collectors.
The initial product was designed around Ethereum-based ERC-721 and ERC-1155 tokens, with support for additional blockchain networks planned.
Coinbase emphasized that users would retain control over their assets through decentralized contracts rather than being restricted to a proprietary collection system.
The announcement came during the NFT industry’s rapid expansion, when digital artwork, collectibles and blockchain gaming were attracting significant investment and public attention.
Coinbase eventually introduced the marketplace in beta on April 20, 2022, several months after the October announcement.
However, the NFT market subsequently experienced a substantial downturn, and Coinbase struggled to translate its established cryptocurrency customer base into comparable marketplace activity.
The October 12 announcement remains a milestone in the period when major centralized exchanges began expanding beyond cryptocurrencies into digital collectibles and Web3 applications.
Original source: Coinbase announcement, October 12, 2021.
October 12, 2021: IMF Highlights Cryptocurrency Risks to Financial Stability
On October 12, 2021, the International Monetary Fund held a briefing on global financial stability and published commentary identifying cryptocurrency markets as an emerging area requiring closer supervision.
The IMF’s analysis examined the rapid expansion of digital assets, increasing use of leverage, operational weaknesses and limited regulatory oversight in many jurisdictions.
It also highlighted the potential financial implications of growing cryptocurrency adoption in emerging markets, particularly where digital assets could substitute for domestic currencies.
The organization warned that inadequate investor protections, inconsistent international standards and gaps in transaction data could complicate efforts to identify and contain risks.
Stablecoins were another area of concern because their role in cryptocurrency trading created potential connections between digital asset markets and conventional financial institutions.
The IMF acknowledged opportunities associated with blockchain technology and financial inclusion but argued that regulators needed to address the accompanying vulnerabilities.
Its Global Financial Stability Report included a dedicated chapter on the cryptocurrency ecosystem, although the report’s underlying publication record predates the October 12 briefing.
The remarks reflected a period when international financial institutions were moving toward more systematic assessment of cryptocurrency-related financial risks.
Original sources: IMF commentary, October 12, 2021 and IMF October 12 briefing transcript.
October 12, 2022: Betterment Launches Cryptocurrency Investment Portfolios
On October 12, 2022, US digital investment adviser Betterment officially launched its cryptocurrency investment service, expanding its automated portfolio-management platform into digital assets.
The service, Crypto Investing by Betterment, offered four managed cryptocurrency portfolios for retail investors and financial advisers.
Rather than requiring customers to research and purchase individual tokens independently, the platform provided curated investments covering different areas of the cryptocurrency ecosystem.
The offering followed Betterment’s acquisition of cryptocurrency portfolio-management company Makara earlier in 2022.
Gemini was selected to provide cryptocurrency custody services, while Betterment handled the investor-facing portfolio-management experience.
The launch was notable because Betterment was already an established robo-advisory platform serving hundreds of thousands of customers and managing more than $30 billion in assets.
Its expansion represented another attempt to integrate cryptocurrency investing into familiar financial applications used for diversified portfolio management.
The timing was particularly significant. Cryptocurrency markets were experiencing a prolonged downturn following the collapse of the Terra ecosystem and failures involving several lending businesses.
Betterment nevertheless proceeded with the launch, demonstrating continued institutional interest in offering cryptocurrency investment products during the 2022 bear market.
Original source: Betterment press release, October 12, 2022.
October 12, 2022: Chainalysis Reports $718 Million Stolen in October Crypto Hacks
On October 12, 2022, blockchain analytics company Chainalysis reported that attackers had stolen approximately $718 million from decentralized finance protocols through 11 separate incidents during the first 12 days of October.
The figures made October the largest month for cryptocurrency hacking losses recorded up to that point in the year, despite more than half the month remaining.
Chainalysis said that cryptocurrency thefts during 2022 had already exceeded $3 billion across approximately 125 attacks.
Cross-chain bridges were particularly vulnerable. Three bridge incidents during October had accounted for nearly $600 million in losses, approximately 82% of the month’s reported stolen funds.
The figures followed several major security incidents, including the October 6 attack on BNB Chain’s cross-chain bridge and the October 11 Mango Markets exploit.
Chainalysis observed that attackers were increasingly targeting DeFi protocols rather than the centralized exchanges that had historically been prominent targets.
The findings reflected a changing threat environment. Other vulnerabilities, including physical wallet compromises, have also emerged, as explored in Dave Finances’ reporting on the Ledger hardware-wallet investigation.
Chainalysis later confirmed that October 2022 had become the year’s worst month for cryptocurrency hacking, with its final estimates exceeding the figures published on October 12.
Original source: Chainalysis research update, October 12, 2022.
October 12, 2023: FTX Trial Jury Hears Recording Implicating Sam Bankman-Fried
On October 12, 2023, jurors in the federal fraud trial of FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried heard a recording of former Alameda Research CEO Caroline Ellison discussing the use of FTX customer deposits to repay Alameda’s lenders.
The audio came from an internal Alameda meeting held on November 9, 2022, shortly before FTX filed for bankruptcy.
In the recording, Ellison explained to employees that Alameda had borrowed substantial funds to finance illiquid investments and subsequently faced demands from lenders to repay those obligations.
She acknowledged that the trading firm had obtained funds from FTX to address those repayment pressures.
When questioned about who had authorized the use of customer funds, Ellison identified Bankman-Fried.
The recording was introduced during testimony from former Alameda trader Christian Drappi, who described the meeting and the employees’ reactions to the disclosures.
Ellison also completed her testimony on October 12, following several days of questioning about Alameda’s financial difficulties, misleading balance sheets and its relationship with FTX.
The courtroom presentation was significant because it gave jurors contemporaneous evidence of how Alameda executives discussed the use of exchange customer assets during the company’s collapse.
Bankman-Fried was subsequently convicted in November 2023 and sentenced to 25 years in prison in March 2024.
Contemporaneous source: Reuters, October 12, 2023.
October 12, 2025: Binance Confirms $283 Million in Compensation After Crypto Market Crash
On October 12, 2025, Binance confirmed that it had distributed approximately $283 million in compensation to users affected by platform-related disruptions during the severe cryptocurrency market selloff that began on October 10.
The wider crash had triggered approximately $19 billion in reported leveraged liquidations across cryptocurrency markets over a 24-hour period.
During the turmoil, several assets used as collateral experienced extreme price deviations on Binance, including Ethena’s synthetic dollar USDe and the liquid-staking tokens BNSOL and WBETH.
Some users suffered forced liquidations after collateral values fell sharply within the exchange’s markets.
In its October 12 statement, Binance said compensation had been distributed in two batches to cover eligible losses linked to the collateral-price disruptions.
The exchange also acknowledged temporary delays affecting internal transfers and redemptions of certain Earn products, which had prevented some users from adding margin promptly.
Binance maintained that its core spot and futures matching engines remained operational during the broader market disruption.
The company also announced plans to strengthen collateral valuation safeguards, including incorporating redemption prices into relevant asset indexes.
The episode drew attention to the distinction between an asset’s redemption value and its temporary market quotation, particularly when used as trading collateral. That distinction is also examined in Dave Finances’ analysis of stablecoin depegs and investor recovery.
The October 12 disclosure provided the first detailed public accounting of Binance’s compensation following the crash. A separate $400 million recovery initiative was announced on October 14.
Original sources: Binance market-volatility and compensation statement, October 12, 2025 and Binance collateral-depegging response, October 12, 2025.
Johan Shamshad is a financial markets writer at Dave Finances covering cryptocurrencies, trading platforms, brokers, fintech, financial regulation, and developments across global markets. He previously worked at Gulf News, adding newsroom experience to his coverage of fast-moving financial and digital-asset markets.
His work focuses on identifying market-moving events, company developments, regulatory changes, product launches, and shifts in trading and financial infrastructure.
Johan contributes news and analysis designed to help readers understand not only what happened, but why a development matters and how it may affect the wider financial landscape. You can reach out to him via his social media accounts:
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