Bitcoin was created in 2009 by someone using the name Satoshi Nakamoto. Nobody knows who this person really is! Bitcoin was invented because people wanted money that couldn't be controlled by banks or governments, especially after many banks got into big trouble in 2008.

In 2008, there was a big problem with banks around the world. Many people lost their savings and homes. This made some people think: "What if we had money that didn't need banks at all?"

That's when Satoshi Nakamoto published a paper explaining how Bitcoin could work. It was a brand new idea - digital money that didn't need a bank or government to run it!

When Bitcoin first started, it wasn't worth much at all. People could get thousands of Bitcoin very easily. But as more people learned about it and started using it, Bitcoin became more and more valuable.

Today, millions of people around the world use Bitcoin. Some use it to send money to family in other countries. Others save it like digital gold. And more stores and websites accept Bitcoin as payment every year!