If you could go back to 1989, you would discover a person named David Chaum who invented the digital currency eCash, which is very similar to Bitcoin. You would be glad to have caught this opportunity early.

But the project collapsed in 1999.

If you could go back to 1996, you would find a person named Douglas Jackson who invented a digital currency called e-gold, which was 1:1 pegged to gold (much like today's USDT or USDC). You would be glad to have finally seized the opportunity.

But by 2009, the project went bankrupt under government pressure.

If you could go back to 2005, you would finally realize that all the technological components for digital currency were in place, and a person named Nick Szabo proposed the concept of Bit Gold, suggesting the introduction of a POW consensus mechanism to reward miners for discovering blocks. You would be glad that perseverance pays off, and you could finally participate.

But in the end, no suitable developers were found, and the project was stillborn.

If you could go back to 2008, you would meet an anonymous geek named Satoshi who said he wanted to invent a digital currency system called Bitcoin. Would you participate back then?

Now is neither too early nor too late; those who acted too early became martyrs, and those who acted too late became the ones taking over.

This time frame is just right, implying that some good products or technologies need not only strong consensus in explicit conditions but also a bit of luck in implicit conditions.

Bitcoin succeeded because of the right timing, geography, and people.