The Bitcoin network has reached a landmark achievement, processing its one billionth transaction, a milestone that marks 15 years since the cryptocurrency's inception. This momentous transaction was recorded at 9:34 pm UTC on May 5, encapsulated in block 842,241, according to data from Clark Moody's Bitcoin dashboard.

This achievement comes over 15 years after the pseudonymous creator, Satoshi Nakamoto, launched Bitcoin by mining its first block on January 3, 2009. Throughout its 5,603-day history, Bitcoin has averaged 178,475 transactions per day. However, these figures don't include transactions on the Lightning Network, which is designed for smaller, more frequent payments and handled approximately 6.6 million transactions in August 2023 alone.

The spike in Bitcoin's transaction activity coincided with its fourth halving event on April 20 and the introduction of the Runes protocol—a new Bitcoin token standard. On April 23, the network experienced a record-breaking day with 926,000 transactions. Despite this peak, daily transactions dipped to 660,260 by May 4.

Bitcoin's price has recently shown signs of recovery, rising over 12% from a two-month low to $63,750. Yet, it still trails behind its historic high by 13.6%.

Interestingly, despite its age and status as the original cryptocurrency, Bitcoin is not the first to surpass the billion transaction mark. Ethereum, a younger but formidable competitor, has already processed over 2 billion transactions since its start in July 2015.

This milestone for Bitcoin not only reflects its enduring appeal and resilience but also highlights the competitive landscape of blockchain technology, where it continues to vie against newer networks like Ethereum for dominance in the crypto economy.