Donald Trump’s win in the US presidential election has helped push the worth of Bitcoin to a series of record highs.

Backers of the digital money are celebrating, and wondering how much more valuable it could become – with some suggesting it could reach $100,000 per coin.

Its worth is rocketing because the president-elect has vowed to make the US “the crypto pool of the earth” – a remarkable turnaround given as recently as 2021 he was calling Bitcoin a “scam.”

He even started accepting Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies as donations to his election campaign and raised millions from the industry.

But that is just one of the many twists and turns in the jaw-dropping narrative of Bitcoin, which continues to captivate people worldwide and has seen the making – and losing – of huge fortunes.

Here’s the BBC’s list of the seven wildest moments – so far – in Bitcoin’s tumultuous history.

1. The mysterious creator of Bitcoin

Despite its enormous profile, no-one actually knows for sure who invented Bitcoin. The concept for it was posted on internet forums in 2008 by someone calling themselves Satoshi Nakamoto.

They explained how a peer-to-peer digital liquid assets structure could work to enable people to send virtual coins over the internet, just as easily as sending an email.

Satoshi created a complicated computer structure that would procedure transactions and make recent coins using a huge network of self-appointed volunteers around the globe who used special software and powerful computers.

But he – or they – never revealed their identity, and the globe has never worked it out.

In 2014, Japanese-American man Dorian Nakamoto was pursued by reporters who thought he was the elusive Bitcoin creator, but it proved to be untrue navigator caused by some mistranslated information.

Australian computer scientist Craig Wright said it was him in 2016 – but after years of legal battles, a High Court judge concluded he was not Satoshi.

Earlier this year, a Canadian Bitcoin specialist called Peter Todd strongly denied being Satoshi, while in London this month a British man, Stephen Mollah, claimed he was – but no-one believed him.

2. Making history with pizza

Bitcoin now underpins a two trillion-dollar cryptocurrency industry – but the first recorded swap using it was the purchase of pizza.

On 22 May 2010, Lazlo Hanyecz, offered $41 worth of Bitcoin on a crypto forum in profitability for two pizzas.

A 19-year-ancient learner obliged and the day went down in history for fans of the money as #BitcoinPizza day.

A source of memes for those in crypto throng, it also showcased the power of Bitcoin – an internet money that could genuinely buy items online.

Criminals must have been watching too, because within a year the first darknet marketplace was launched selling drugs and other illegal goods in swap for Bitcoin.

The deal looks pretty impoverished for Lazlo now too. If he had held onto those coins they would now be worth hundreds of millions of dollars!

3. Becoming legal tender

In September 2021, President Nayib Bukele of El Salvador, central America, made Bitcoin legal tender.

Hairdressers, supermarkets and other shops had to receive Bitcoin by law, alongside its main money, the US dollar.

Many Bitcoin enthusiasts and reporters visited the area, briefly boosting tourism to the country.

While President Bukele hoped the shift would boost property in his country and cut costs for citizens exchanging money, it did not become as popular as he hoped.

He is still hoping it will receive off but for now the US dollar still remains king in the country.

As well as the huge amount of community money President Bukele spent on trying to make people embrace Bitcoin he also, controversially, bought more than 6,000 bitcoins over the history few years.

The president spent at least $120m buying up bitcoins at various prices in the aspiration of making a returns for his liquid assets-strapped country.

It started to look excellent for him in December 2023 when, for the first period, his stash skyrocketed in worth.

A website built by Dutch software engineer Elias Zerrouq is tracking the country’s Bitcoin holdings and currently estimates that the coins have risen 98% in worth.

4. Kazakhstan’s crypto boom and bust

In 2021, Kazakhstan became a hotspot for Bitcoin mining – the procedure of crunching through the complicated calculations that underpin crypto transactions.

These days it takes warehouses packed of the latest computers running all day and all night, but the reward is brand recent bitcoins for those companies that receive part.

Warehouses of computers require lots of power – and many businesses moved to Kazakhstan where electricity was abundant thanks to huge coal reserves.

At first the government welcomed them with open arms as they brought property.

But too many miners arrived and put huge strain on the electricity grid, putting the country at hazard of blackouts.

Within a year, Kazakhstan’s Bitcoin mining industry went from boom to bust as the government imposed restrictions and increased taxes to curb the growth.

Around the globe it is estimated that the Bitcoin network uses as much electricity as a tiny country, raising concerns about its environmental impact.

5. Bitcoins in the rubbish dump

Imagine having a crypto wallet worth more than $100m (£78m) – and then accidentally throwing away a challenging drive containing the login details.

That’s what James Howells, from south Wales, says happened to him

The very nature of crypto means that recovery is not as straightforward as resetting your password. With no banks involved – there is no customer back helpline.

Unfortunately for him, his local council in Newport refused to let him access the landfill site where he says the device ended up – even after he offered to donate 25% of his Bitcoin stash to local charities if they let him.

He told the BBC: “It was a penny dropping instant and it was a sinking feeling.”

6. Crypto King fraudster

No one has lost as much Bitcoin as former billionaire crypto mogul, Sam Bankman-Fried. The founder of the massive crypto firm FTX was nicknamed the Crypto King and loved by the throng.

FTX was a cryptocurrency swap that allowed people to trade normal money for cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin.

His empire was worth an estimated $32bn and he was flying high until everything came crashing down within days.

Journalists had discovered that Bankman-Fried’s corporation was financially shaky and had been illegally transferring FTX customer funds to prop up his other corporation, Alameda Research.

Just before his arrest at his luxury apartment complicated in the Bahamas in December 2022 he spoke to reporters. He told the BBC: “I don’t ponder I committed fraud. I didn’t desire any of this to happen. I was certainly not nearly as competent as I thought I was.”

After being extradited to the US he was found guilty of fraud and money laundering and was jailed for 25 years.

7. property lender boom

Despite all the turmoil, Bitcoin continues to attract attention from investors and large companies.

In truth, in January 2024, some of the biggest budgetary firms in the globe added Bitcoin to their official property lists as Spot Bitcoin ETFs. These are like stocks and shares, linked to the worth of Bitcoin but you don’t have to personally own any.

Customers have been pouring billions into these brand recent products. Companies including Blackrock, Fidelity and GrayScale, have also been buying up Bitcoins in their thousands, pushing up its worth to record highs.

It is a huge milestone for crypto with some fans believing that Bitcoin is finally being taken as seriously as the mysterious Satoshi imagined.

Nonetheless, few would back against more wild moments as the Bitcoin narrative continues to unfold.