Bitcoin.org turns 18: the domain that predated the first Bitcoin block

On August 18, the domain Bitcoin.org turned 18 years old. It was registered more than two months before Satoshi Nakamoto published the famous white paper, and almost five months before the first working version of the Bitcoin network was launched. This means Bitcoin.org became one of the earliest concrete addresses for what would become the world's first cryptocurrency — at a time when the project existed mainly as code, ideas, and correspondence between developers.

Initially, the domain was controlled by Satoshi Nakamoto and Martti Malmi, one of the first participants in the project. When Nakamoto gradually stepped away from Bitcoin development, control of the site was distributed among several community members. For a project built on a decentralized ideology, this was a matter of principle: even such an important resource was not supposed to become a single point of control.

Bitcoin.org has never been an "official website" in the corporate sense. Bitcoin has no owner company, no CEO, and no organization that could unilaterally make decisions for the entire network. In the early days, the site served as the main entry point to the ecosystem: it hosted the white paper, links to client software, and basic instructions for newcomers. Today, it remains a place where users can return to the origins of the cryptocurrency.

Over the years, Bitcoin.org has faced both technical attacks and legal challenges. In 2021, a UK court ordered hosting providers to block access to the site following a lawsuit by Craig Wright, who claimed that the white paper violated his copyright. Bitcoin.org removed the white paper but later restored it in a different format. Despite ongoing pressure, the resource continues to operate as an archive of original documents and a gateway for new users exploring the Bitcoin ecosystem.