Cryptography and digital money concepts began with projects like eCash (by David Chaum, 1983) and Digicash (1990s).
These were centralized attempts at digital money but failed due to lack of adoption.
1998
Wei Dai proposed b-money, an anonymous, distributed electronic cash system.
Nick Szabo created the idea of Bit Gold, often seen as a direct precursor to Bitcoin.
---
💡 Birth of Bitcoin
2008
A mysterious figure (or group) under the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto published the Bitcoin Whitepaper: "Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System."
2009
The Bitcoin network launched, with the genesis block mined on January 3, 2009.
First real transaction: 10,000 BTC for two pizzas (2010).
---
🚀 Rise of Cryptocurrencies
2011–2013
Alternatives to Bitcoin (altcoins) like Litecoin, Namecoin, and Ripple (XRP) launched.
Bitcoin reached $1 (2011) and later $1,000 (2013).
2015
Ethereum launched, introducing smart contracts and decentralized applications (dApps).
This created the foundation for DeFi (Decentralized Finance) and NFTs.
---
🌍 Mainstream Attention
2017
Huge bull run: Bitcoin neared $20,000.
ICO (Initial Coin Offering) boom raised billions, but many projects failed or were scams.