By our content partner: Everything About Bitcoin
Bitcoin was first launched in 2009 by an anonymous profile, under the pseudonym of Satoshi Nakamoto, who’s true identity today remains unknown due to his desire and vision for Bitcoin to be a standalone and anonymous project without a central authority.
However, while Bitcoin was created in 2009, the ideals and concepts behind a digital and decentralized global currency existed long before the advent of Bitcoin.
The first existence of a cryptographic and electronic monetary system spawned as early as in 1983, in the form of “ecash“. Numerous other forms of cryptocurrencies soon followed after, with the creations of “B-Money” in 1998 and “Bitgold” in 2005; both of which have been directly quoted by Satoshi Nakamoto as part of the concepts of Bitcoin. While many of these earlier cryptocurrenies were conceptually sound, they did not materialize as the internet and its infrastructure back then was nowhere near as powerful, sophisticated and expansive as it is today.
Imagine setting up a video conferencing company like Zoom in the year 2000. While you would have ultimately been a visionary way ahead of your time, Zoom in 2000 would inevitably have failed due to slow internet speeds, poor webcam technology and internet infrastructure. The world and the internet in 2020 was just not ready for a Zoom. Fast forward to 2020 and it’s a completely different story – That’s where Bitcoin is today! In its infancy of something greater.
Before investing in Bitcoin and as a key part of understanding Bitcoin – I strongly encourage you to read the original Bitcoin whitepaper, published by Satoshi Nakamoto himself. It contains all the thoughts behind the concept of Bitcoin and Satoshi’s vision for it’s future. A highly compelling read that is not too complex and still relatively easy to understand.