The Birth of Bitcoin

In September 2008, the global financial system was collapsing. Major banks were failing, governments were bailing them out with taxpayer money, and millions of ordinary people lost their homes and savings. Trust in the traditional financial system was shattered. On October 31, 2008 — in the middle of this crisis — a person or group using the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto published a nine-page paper titled 'Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System.' This paper proposed something radical: a form of digital money that did not require banks, governments, or any trusted third party to function.