Too Long; Didn't Read
Bitcoin was created by Satoshi Nakamoto to be a<a href="https://bitcoin.org/bitcoin.pdf" target="_blank"> peer-to-peer electronic cash system</a> which would allow online payments to be sent directly from one party to another without going through a financial institution. It emerged in the middle of the Great Recession; as individuals lost their homes and savings, banks and businesses were going bankrupt, and the government was printing money to stimulate the economy through multiple rounds of Quantitative Easing. It was designed to be an alternative to our current system of what was considered irresponsible government and central bank policies; a way to reimagine the role of money in our society.