While backpacking in Asia in 2016, I met some interesting people (read: extremely friendly and intelligent) who were telling me about a new currency. I had already heard of Bitcoin but wasn’t sure if it would become a disrupter or not. In full disclosure, I first heard about Bitcoin on my favorite TV show, The Good Wife, in 2013. If Alicia Florrick was defending it in court, then I must learn about it. Will this be the future?
The funny thing, talking to talented software engineers, gave me hope. Their excitement to develop something bigger than the internet itself gave them a pep in their step. Naturally, as someone easily excited, I started feeling their passion. I had to buy a small piece, $100 worth. Side note, $100 was 5x my daily budget for backpacking — I lived off $20/day.
These new friends were patient enough to walk me through how to buy Bitcoin on Coinbase. Let me tell you, Coinbase circa 2016 didn’t have a user-friendly interface as it does now. Let me also tell you, the verification process used to take days, 3 exact. My new friends made this process as seamless as they possibly could so I could have skin in the game.
Fast forward to now, nearly a year later, and that said $100 piece of Bitcoin is nowhere to be seen. Why? Because I didn’t have a hardware wallet at that time. Cue the facepalm.
