Since its launch (Genesis Block), Bitcoin has processed 873,304 blocks on its journey to reaching $100,000 on December 5, 2024. While blocks are now mined every 9.6 minutes due to increased computing power, the historical average is 11.8 minutes. This longer average stems from Bitcoin's early days when mining was slower, as Satoshi had overestimated the processing power of basic computers when setting initial difficulty levels. This journey marks Bitcoin's transformation from an experimental project into a major global financial asset.