The Short History Of The Bitcoin Logo

Описание: The Orange bitcoin logo is arguably one of the most recognisable brands in the world. The symbols of Apple, Nike, Meta, Mr Beast, Coca-Cola, McDonalds and now Bitcoin would be recognised by tens of millions of individuals around the globe, regardless of their race, language or other differentiating factors. But where did it come from?

The orange logo that we know and love today Was not the first Bitcoin Logo that was used, and it was not created by Satoshi Nakamoto. I was surprised to discover this too, and wondered Who did create the logo, and perhaps more pressingly, who owns the intellectual property rights to it? So I did my research, which turned up some interesting results. This is the full History of the bitcoin logo

Logo 1
The first and original Bitcoin Logo Looked like this: The letters BC engraved onto a gold coin. It was created by Satoshi Nakamoto themselves at Bitcoin’s inception. It would be un-recognisable today to many in the Bitcoin community. I mean, its not even orange
But don’t discount the significance of the first logo. The logo resembles a gold coin, which not by accident aligns with skeuomorphism philosophy. This is a derivative object, in this case a digital currency, borrowing a design cue, in this case a gold coin shape, from an attribute that was necessary in the original object. Put simply – the logo for this new digital money references the original hard physical money, gold coins. This subtly communicates to anyone who sees it for the first time what bitcoin is – money. This version while his-torically significant, only lasted a few short months

Logo 2
On February 24th 2010, Satoshi revealed the Updated Bitcoin Logo version 2

It replaced the BC letters with a Hybrid Of The Letter B and The $ Dollar sign. The improvements were made based on community feedback, so while it was posted and created by Satoshi, it was a group effort.

This version looks more like the modern day Bitcoin Logo – and when it was posted to Bitcointalk.org, Satoshi did not declare it the new logo – he asked the community if they could “Live with That as our new logo?”

Bitcoin was and is a collaborative project, and so it is the community that makes decisions as a whole. And indeed it was the community that decided on the third and most famous version of the bitcoin logo


Logo 3
On November 1st, 2010, An anonymous user on BitcoinTalk released his design for a logo, often referred to now as the “Orange Logo”. It featured The B from the previous logo, set against an orange background, and rotated clockwise 14%.

The community instantly fell in love with the eye-catching, bright design, and BitBoy’s logo has been the symbol of choice ever since for the world’s leading digital currency.

It is important to clarify that user is indeed named BitBoy – Which immediately brings up the association with BitBoy Crypto aka Ben Armstrong, the most popular crypto Youtuber by audience size. Is there a chance that he created the bitcoin logo?

No – there has never been a public acknowledgement of this and there wont be. Bitboy aka Ben Armstrong has repeated on many occasions that he got into crypto, specifically bitcoin, in 2014. This is 4 years after the anonymous Bitboy logo creator completed his work

From what I can see, it is just a coincidence that they share the same name. It would have made for a great story though, if it was him.

But this raises a further question – If this Bitboy user created the Logo, Does he then technically own the The Logo?

Well, Bitboy was a generous individual. The orange logo was Given To The Community by him for free use. When he posted the logo on bitcointalk.org, it was accompanied by some text, part of which stated “Now everyone can make use of the graphics freely, even for commercial purposes, with this licence and not be bound by any restrictions.”
This gesture Embodies The Values Of Bitcoin, Open, non discriminatory, and available to everyone. Besides, If It was trademarked, a new one would replace it instantly. Such is the nature of the contributors to the Bitcoin Community, particularly in the early years.

Remember, Bitcoin Is Driven by the community, so a new logo may take the orange logo’s place one day, if enough people agree upon it. Dozens of alternative logos have been created since, and many more will follow. Maybe you have an idea for a new Bitcoin Logo. Make your own version, put it out there, and who knows what could follow.

💰 SUPPORT THE CHANNEL

Help keep independent crypto storytelling alive ⚡ Every sat counts.

🪙 Bitcoin (On-Chain):
bc1qvycn8pr38shtngqlk8ylenx25vr0wdxpq60wtm

⚡ Lightning Tips:
[email protected]

🎥 Your support powers more episodes from The Crypto Historian — where the past is encrypted, and the truth is worth mining.