On Monday, September 15th, 2008, tourists and locals stood outside and watched as employees of Lehman Brothers left the New York City headquarters on news that the bank would need to liquidate or file bankruptcy.

46 Days later, Satoshi Nakamoto posted the first white paper outlining Bitcoin.

Less than 3 months later, the first Bitcoin code was released and implemented.

How Did Cryptocurrency Get to Where We Are, and Why Now?

In a world of mediocre commentary about whether cryptocurrency is garbage or gold, about whether it will collapse or else disrupt every aspect of our lives, it’s the story of how we got here that’s so often missing. If we want to be smarter about it, to make better long-term decisions, we need a map showing us where we’ve come from so that we can see where we’re headed.

Really, there are 3 histories - 3 stories - that show us not only how cryptocurrency has come about - but more importantly where it’s likely headed.