It's probably a common story in you group of friends. That friend who said the "government" can stop it or that it seemed like some kind of scam. The first time I came across bitcoin was roughly 2014 when I played a lot of Runescape. I know what a waste of my life but it was a social thing to get on and just play with my cousin or some of my close friends more than it was a game to me. We would get on and just chat and do meaningless things. At that time some people were trading in-game items and I came across some people offering it but in my eyes it was too difficult to trade for "real money" and I didn't participate.

In that same time one of my close friends was telling me about. We sat around drinking beers and he was a passionate bitcoiner at that time (still is) and really wanted to bring me in. He expended a lot of time and energy but I refuted his many great points at the time with simple things that I was oh so very wrong and inaccurate about. He would spend his coins on laptops, microwaves, ect and showed me how it could be used. I pretty much ignored it. I saw the volatility and just didn't understand it's purpose at the time. I was arrogant and ignorant to learn.

Around 2017 I became a little more interested in it but there were so many tokens and I just didn't understand why things would move towards bitcoin when anyone could just create a token. So, in 2019 I started buying tokens. Not bitcoin however! I bought small amounts as I felt I was too late to bitcoin and well I'll never be able to get a full coin or let alone more.

After some volatility in the alt market I had started to read a lot. I mean I would read each white paper and I stared getting a better understanding of what I was participating in. I couldn't believe that I was buying so much meaningless stuff. It's as if a lightbulb clicked in my head as to proof of work vs proof of stake or any other mechanism that was being advertised. I fell deep into the rabbit hole and started reading every book I could get my hands on. From the Bitcoin Standard to the Internet of Money to Everything Divided by 21 Million.

I loved the different perspectives and the one thing I loved the most was that not one single person who I disagreed with had authority to change the mechanisms. I've spent the past couple years sharing as much information with all of my friends but they like me have the same view point as I had many years before. Some went into alts and got destroyed this past year or two and others went into NFTs and so on. Most refused to buy bitcoin and now are slowly starting to see things click. I wouldn't say any have turned the page just yet but they are asking some of the good questions.

I deserved to buy Bitcoin at the price it was. I have shared it with friends as tips or instead of venmo or something else I will always give them small amounts. I love spending with people I care about because to me it's something of value that I don't want to spend unless I really find the need for it.

I just don't want people I know to get trapped into alt coin market. It's uses and marketing are some of the most potent lies. Sometimes you have to learn the hard way such as I did myself and other times people who have open minds will learn far easier than I did. I'm just thankful that there are so many educators out there that have spent time to provide the information to get the message out.