Imagine that you want to transfer money to a fren on the other side of the Earth—no need to fill out bank forms, no waiting for institutional approvals, and you don't even have to worry about some organization suddenly freezing your assets.

Sounds like science fiction? But Bitcoin has been around for 16 years.

Its underlying logic is actually very pure: a decentralized network ensures that no one can unilaterally control it, the hard cap of 21 million coins makes inflation impossible, and the proof-of-work mechanism pushes the cost of tampering into astronomical figures.

The 9-page white paper built the first truly "yours" monetary system in human history using the simplest mathematics and cryptography—no printing presses, no permission checks, just you and your private key.

This is why some people say it redefines the term "own."