Bitcoin is the first implementation of a concept called “crypto currency”, which was first described in 1998 by Wei Dai on the cypherpunks mailing list, suggesting the idea of a new form of money that uses cryptography to control its creation and transactions, rather than a central authority. In 2008, an anonymous internet user going by the name of Satoshi Nakamoto posted a paper describing a new peer-to-peer electronic payment system known as Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System which outlines the fundamental concepts that Bitcoin is built upon. He remained active in the Bitcoin community until mid-2010 when he gave the mantle of lead developer to Gavin Andresen and faded from public communication. In January 2009, the first block was mined and the Bitcoin client was released to the public thus creating the Bitcoin network.

In 2010, the first transactions were brokered on bitcointalk.org and one user famously purchased about $25 worth of pizza for 10,000 bitcoins. The awareness of Bitcoin as well as the value of bitcoins slowly increased.