The Times 03/Jan/2009 Chancellor on brink of second bailout for banks
(Source: The Times, January 3, 2009, Front page, Chancellor on brink of second bailout for banks )
This message was engraved in the first block when Bitcoin was created. (Blockchain blocks, which record Bitcoin transactions, have space in which any data can be entered, and This message was recorded in the first block of the blockchain (called the genesis block).
The background to the creation of Bitcoin is criticism of the "legal tender" currencies that we currently use every day, such as the Japanese Yen and the US Dollar.
For example, there is criticism that "central banks such as the Bank of Japan are not able to properly manage legal tender such as the Japanese yen."
As of July 2023, the Bank of Japan continues its "zero interest rate policy" that keeps interest rates extremely low. Not only do you not earn any interest by saving money in a bank, but if you use an ATM at night, you will be charged after hours. You will be charged a fee and instead of saving money, you will end up losing it.
Then, the war in Ukraine started, and prices started to rise in the second half of 2022 and into 2023, when the COVID-19 pandemic ended. Furthermore, interest rates remained low, so compared to the US dollar, which increased interest rates. As a result, the Japanese yen was sold and the US dollar was bought. As a result, the Japanese yen, which was 114 yen per US dollar at the beginning of 2022, fell to around 140 yen per US dollar. Its price against the US dollar also fell.
As for the US dollar, was it properly managed? Until 2022, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, bank interest rates were low. The US government also invested a large amount of money in COVID-19 countermeasures. As a result, US dollars became abundant, and stock and real estate prices rose. Then, around the time the COVID-19 pandemic ended, inflation (the rise in prices of things in the world) progressed rapidly.
When the prices of things in the world rise, it means that the value of money is decreasing, so whether it is Japanese yen or US dollars, simply holding money will cause the value of that money to decrease rapidly.
If you go to Hawaii now, it will cost you tens of thousands of yen a day. The double whammy of a weak yen, a strong dollar, and high local prices has made overseas travel expensive for Japanese people. Can we trust the Bank of Japan, which is implementing policies that are lowering the value of the currency so much? The Bank of Japan is only making the banks profitable, and ordinary people are suffering. This is why Bitcoin was created. This may have been Satoshi Nakamoto's intention.
Furthermore, the financial crisis of 2008, known as the Lehman Shock, undermined confidence in the ability of central banks and governments to properly manage money. During this period, many banks were on the verge of collapse, and the government sought to take measures to protect these banks. It was necessary to pour in a huge amount of money (essentially my tax money) to bail them out. This felt unfair to many people and strengthened distrust in the entire financial system. was.
Against this background, Bitcoin was born in 2009 with the aim of creating a new monetary system. Bitcoin is traded over the Internet, is not controlled by a central bank or government, and all transactions are It is publicly available online and transparent.