Satoshi Nakamoto, (whose real name must not be revealed), published his Whitepaper in November 2008. Satoshi wrote: “I’ve been working on a new electronic cash system…” He attached a link to his White Paper, “Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System”.
Bitcoin had just been born. It was set to become an economic miracle.
Satoshi wrote:
"Total circulation will be 21,000,000 coins. It'll be distributed to network nodes when they make blocks, with the amount cut in half every 4 years.
first 4 years: 10,500,000 coins
next 4 years: 5,250,000 coins
next 4 years: 2,625,000 coins
next 4 years: 1,312,500 coins
etc...
When that runs out, the system can support transaction fees if needed. It's based on open market competition, and there will probably always be nodes willing to process transactions for free.
The real trick will be to get people to actually value the Bitcoins so that they become currency. I would be surprised if 10 years from now we’re not using electronic currency in some way, now that we know a way to do it. It could get started in a narrow niche like reward points, donation tokens, currency for a game or micropayments for adult sites.”
By early 2009 Satoshi had the software working. He started to mine bitcoin. Soon other cryptographers joined him in the mining.
He actively discussed the software, and debated about it in the online forums. He was asked about his choice of 21 million coins.
Satoshi wrote: “My choice for the number of coins and distribution schedule was an educated guess. It was a difficult choice, because once the network is going it's locked in and we're stuck with it. If Bitcoin remains a small niche, it'll be worth less per unit than existing currencies. If you imagine it being used for some fraction of world commerce, then there's only going to be 21 million coins for the whole world, so it would be worth much more per unit.”