2008
2008 is the year of the global financial crisis and the Bitcoin white paper.
- Even
- Composite
Where 2008 fits
Why 2008 is special
2008 is the year credit stopped. Lehman Brothers failed in September, triggering the deepest financial crisis since the 1930s and bank rescues across the world. In October, six weeks later, a paper describing Bitcoin was posted under the name Satoshi Nakamoto — a sequence often noted, though the paper's connection to the crisis is asserted more often than evidenced.
Same number, different meanings
How 2008 is understood across different contexts — never implying one meaning because of another.
- Mathematics
2008 is the year credit stopped. Lehman Brothers failed in September, triggering the deepest financial crisis since the 1930s and bank rescues across the world. In October, six weeks later, a paper describing Bitcoin was posted under the name Satoshi Nakamoto — a sequence often noted, though the paper's connection to the crisis is asserted more often than evidenced.
- History
In 2008, the collapse of Lehman Brothers deepened a global financial crisis.
- Finance & economics
Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy on 15 September 2008; the Bitcoin white paper was posted on 31 October the same year. The proximity is often presented as cause and effect, and the paper's own text does not make that claim. The genesis block does contain a headline about bank bailouts, which is evidence of timing rather than of motive.
2008 is part of
Factors & digit properties
- Divisors (8)
- 1, 2, 4, 8, 251, 502, 1004, 2008
- Prime factorisation
- 2^3 × 251
- Digit sum
- 10
- Digital root
- 1
Representations
- Decimal
- 2008
- Scientific notation
- 2.008 × 10^3
Roman numerals
M M V I I I
Binary
1 1 1 1 1 0 1 1 0 0 0
1 × 1,024 + 1 × 512 + 1 × 256 + 1 × 128 + 1 × 64 + 0 × 32 + 1 × 16 + 1 × 8 + 0 × 4 + 0 × 2 + 0 × 1 = 2,008
Octal
3 7 3 0
3 × 512 + 7 × 64 + 3 × 8 + 0 × 1 = 2,008
Hexadecimal
7 d 8
7 × 256 + d × 16 + 8 × 1 = 2,008
Read as powers of two: 1,024 + 512 + 256 + 128 + 64 + 16 + 8 = 2,008.
In historical numeral systems
Egyptian
2 lotuses, 8 strokes
2 × 1,000 + 8 × 1 = 2,008. The signs are simply repeated and added; where they sit on the line is a matter of layout, not value.
Babylonian
3 corner wedges + 3 vertical wedges (sixties place), 2 corner wedges + 8 vertical wedges (units place)
33 × 60 + 28 = 2008. Places are separated by a space on the tablet, with the higher place written first.
Systems that simply cannot reach this value are left out. Where a script needs a font most readers do not have, the reading is given instead of the glyphs — see number systems for each system in full.
Other mathematical patterns
- Deficient number
- Happy number
Related numbers & connections
The flash crash came two years after the financial crisis and raised a separate question — not whether markets were mispriced, but whether anyone was in control of them minute to minute.
View 2010 →The Bitcoin white paper was posted weeks after Lehman Brothers collapsed, and the first block carries a January 2009 headline about bank bailouts.
View 2009 →History
In 2008, the collapse of Lehman Brothers deepened a global financial crisis.
DocumentedHistoryGeography: globalPeriod: 2008
Finance & economics
Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy on 15 September 2008; the Bitcoin white paper was posted on 31 October the same year. The proximity is often presented as cause and effect, and the paper's own text does not make that claim. The genesis block does contain a headline about bank bailouts, which is evidence of timing rather than of motive.
DocumentedFinance & economicsPeriod: 2008
Common questions
Is 2008 a prime number?
No, 2008 is not prime.
What are the factors of 2008?
The factors of 2008 are 1, 2, 4, 8, 251, 502, 1004, 2008.
What is 2008 in Roman numerals?
2008 in Roman numerals is MMVIII.
About this page's data
Mathematical facts:computed directly from the number's value — nothing to source or verify externally.
Contextual records: 2 reviewer-confirmed records, sourced and reviewed before publication.
Last reviewed: 15 July 2026