In 2008, an individual (or a group) with the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto released a document titled Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System.

Amid the global financial crisis, this idea sounded revolutionary: digital money not controlled by banks or governments.
In January 2009, the first Bitcoin block—called the Genesis Block—was mined. Inside it, a message about the banking crisis at that time was embedded, symbolizing resistance against the old system.