As you may already know, late October 2008 was an extremely ugly time in the world of finance and money. Most famously, Lehman Brothers declared bankruptcy, and the global economy was teetering into recession. Governments and central banks were scrambling to contain the cataclysm.

On Oct. 31, 2008, the Bitcoin white paper came out — now 16 years ago to the day.

“I’ve been working on a new electronic cash system that’s fully peer-to-peer, with no trusted third party,” pseudony...