Part 4/12:
On October 31, 2008, Satoshi Nakamoto published the Bitcoin white paper, setting forth a vision for a decentralized, code-governed digital currency that eliminated middlemen from transactions. Armstrong was captivated by the promise of a fair, open, and global payment system. Nevertheless, early Bitcoin adopters faced monumental hurdles — lost coins, hacked exchanges, and a cryptic technical landscape. It was a frontier that needed simplified, accessible tools.
Determined, Armstrong set out to build a straightforward platform for buying, owning, and selling Bitcoin. His first prototype drew the attention of online Bitcoin meetups, which comprised a diverse mix of PhDs and crypto-anarchists. Armstrong’s vision was to make this revolutionary technology usable for everyone.