About the past:
Well if im not wrong internet has become noticeable at 80's and went to popular in 90's... but since these processors were advanced enough, why bitcoin idea came until 2000? Wasnt it the right time to appear, even as a draft project in 1990? And start creating the first bitcoins at least crypted with cpu units of this time?
Bitcoin and the blockchain concept only came about because of the 2007/2008
economic crash and the resulting effects it had on everyone across the world.
The crash is what kick-started the concept that Satoshi Nakamoto created
in order for one person to send funds to another without the need of a banking system.