Together with
Seventeen years ago this week, on 12 October 2009, Martti Malmi sold 5,050 BTC for $5.02 over PayPal. The buyer was NewLibertyStandard, a one person website that had just become the first bitcoin exchange. Martti didn't need the five dollars (he was running the forum and helping Satoshi with the code at the time). He made the trade to prove the exchange worked, and in doing so showed that bitcoin could be swapped for real money.
Today's email is brought to you by Smashtoshi, the team behind BIT: The History of Bitcoin. That trade is moment #019 of the 128 in the book, with artwork by Limbo Mask.
A history you can hold
BIT took five years to make. It tells bitcoin's story from cypherpunk origins to the strategic reserve, one moment at a time, each with an original artwork by artists including Archan Nair, Pepenardo, Trevor Jones, Jack Butcher and Gmunk.
→ Genesis Edition: signed and numbered, limited to 256 copies, bound in Bitcoin orange bull leather, with a 7.5kg steel stand etched with the whitepaper.
→ Collector's Edition: the same book in a soft touch orange cover, housed in a hinged presentation case. Limited to 1,884 copies, bringing the total edition to 2,140.
→ Revelations comes with every copy: 350 pages of first hand accounts from more than 100 early bitcoiners, including Martti Malmi himself, Theymos, Jameson Lopp and Samson Mow.
The First Edition sold at auction at Bitcoin MENA in December 2025, with most of the proceeds going to bitcoin education. That copy is gone. These are the editions still on the shelf.
Bitcoin Breakdown readers get 10% off with code BREAKDOWN until 25 October. The button applies it for you.
Naiw
Bitcoin Breakdown
