Why does Bitcoin exist? And why is it being accepted by an ever-growing number of people around the world?

The main reason is that it solves a fundamental problem: ordinary people’s complete property ownership! All other attributes derive from this foundation!

Let me ask you a very important question that’s often overlooked in daily life: Is the money in your bank account really yours?

The answer is: No!

You only have the right to use it, but not the right to ownership! Because the bank or a third-party institution can freeze or even confiscate your money at any time, for any reason, without your permission!

But Bitcoin technically solves this problem: as long as you keep your private keys from leaking, no one—no matter what individual or organization—can freeze or transfer your Bitcoin. You can also use Bitcoin to transact with people anywhere in the world, at any time!

After reading the Bitcoin white paper (Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System), you’ll understand that the essence of Bitcoin is a currency on the Bitcoin network. You can think of the Bitcoin system as a banking system—just like banks in the United States use the dollar, and banks in China use the renminbi for settlement and transfers.

On the network, Bitcoin created a “Bitcoin Republic banking system,” and the currency it issues and uses is Bitcoin!

It’s only that Bitcoin’s banking system is decentralized—it doesn’t belong to any person or organization, including its creator, Satoshi Nakamoto. People don’t even know whether Satoshi is an individual or a group, because he deliberately disappeared. And precisely because Satoshi Nakamoto vanished, the Bitcoin system gained true, perfect, and complete vitality.

The most important thing in the Bitcoin system—the ledger—is decentralized. It doesn’t belong to any individual or company. Instead, it is jointly preserved and updated by thousands of independent full nodes around the world.

Each full node is equal and has the right to independently verify the validity of the ledger. As long as you’re willing and capable, no matter who you are or where you are, you can become a full node of Bitcoin. Even if all miners disappeared at the same time, as long as one full node still exists, Bitcoin’s complete history ledger would not be lost, and everything could be fully restored.

It’s just like Cell in (Dragon Ball): as long as there is even one cell, it can regenerate into a perfect form. That’s why people say, “To shut down Bitcoin, there’s only one way: more than 200 countries/regions around the world unite and shut off the network everywhere.” Obviously, that’s impossible!

Starting on January 3, 2009, when Bitcoin’s genesis block was created, Satoshi mined the first batch of 50 Bitcoins personally. To this day, the Bitcoin system has been running stably for 17 years. Its underlying technology—the blockchain—has gradually been recognized and developed by people, and ultimately gave rise to a huge world. This vast world is usually called Web3 (or the Internet of Value). It is completely reshaping global finance, trust mechanisms, and business models.

One more thing to add: Bitcoin wasn’t invented out of thin air. Its technology and ideas came from a group called the Cypherpunks. The core belief is to defend personal privacy and freedom through strong encryption and anonymous communication tools.

They believe that in the digital age, governments and companies will continually increase surveillance. Only technical means can truly protect individuals from censorship and exploitation—which includes building a system of decentralized finance and economic freedom.

After decades of exploration and technological accumulation, the Cypherpunks ultimately directly gave birth to Bitcoin.

In the Bitcoin white paper published by Satoshi Nakamoto in 2008, the ultimate vision of the Cypherpunks—for “decentralized, anonymous, and censorship-resistant electronic money”—was perfectly realized, returning control of economic freedom completely to the individual.