The Bitcoin That Changed My Life

The Bitcoin That Changed My Life

I.

In 2013, I laughed at Bitcoin.

I was 24, broke, and living in a tiny apartment with two roommates and a fridge that made a sound like it was dying slowly every night. Someone at a party told me about this “digital coin” that was going to “change the world,” and I remember snorting into my drink.

“Money that doesn’t exist? Sounds like Monopoly for nerds.”

They tried to explain the blockchain to me. Decentralization. Peer-to-peer networks. Mining. I nodded and pretended to understand while mentally checking out.

I went home and googled “how does bitcoin work,” read half an article, and gave up.

Too complicated. Too weird.

Too fake.

II.

Fast forward to 2017.

Suddenly, Bitcoin wasn’t a joke anymore. It was on the news. It was in headlines. It was shooting past $10,000 like a rocket made of numbers and hope.

I watched people become millionaires overnight.

There was a guy on YouTube who had bought 1,500 BTC back when it was under $1. He was now “retired” at 30, living on a beach somewhere, sipping coconut water and tweeting about Lambos.

And I thought of that night in 2013.

That conversation.

That laughter.

That missed chance.

Then I did something stupid.

I bought in.

III.

I didn’t have much to spare, but I scraped together $1,000 and opened an account on a crypto exchange. By the time my purchase went through, Bitcoin was at $14,000. I told myself I was late to the party, but at least I made it.

A week later, it hit $18,000.

My portfolio said $1,285.

I felt like a genius.

Another week: $19,800.

I texted my friend: “We’re gonna be rich.”

Then... it crashed.

IV.

January 2018 came like a thief.

Bitcoin plummeted below $10,000. Then $8,000. Then $6,000. Every day I refreshed my app with a sinking feeling in my stomach.

By March, my $1,000 investment was worth $320.

I wanted to vomit.

Not because I’d lost life-changing money—honestly, $1,000 wasn’t much in the grand scheme. I wanted to vomit because I thought I had outsmarted the system. I thought I was on the verge of something big.

And just like that, the digital gold turned back into digital dust.

I didn’t sell, though.

I told myself I’d hold.

For the principle.

For the lesson.

For the possibility that one day I could say, “I didn’t panic.”

V.

Years passed.

I got older. The fridge was replaced. The roommates moved out. I started freelancing, then got a full-time job in marketing. I stopped checking the Bitcoin app every day.

Sometimes, I’d open it out of curiosity.

$5,800.

$7,100.

$10,500.

It moved like a heartbeat.

I started reading more—not just headlines. I learned about Ethereum. Smart contracts. Decentralized finance. NFTs. Scams and scandals and breakthroughs. The wild west of crypto.

And slowly, I stopped treating BTC like a lottery ticket. I started treating it like what it was meant to be:

A technological shift. A new way of thinking about value.

A system with no banks. No borders. Just belief.

VI.

In late 2020, Bitcoin surged again.

This time, I didn’t get excited.

This time, I didn’t post screenshots or make predictions.

I just watched.

By April 2021, it hit $60,000.

My little forgotten investment was suddenly worth nearly $4,500.

But something was different now. I didn’t feel like cashing out. I didn’t feel like buying a Rolex or bragging online.

I felt… curious.

Not about the money, but about the world that BTC represented. The philosophy behind it. The way it questioned the old order and made space for something decentralized, transparent, and free.

That curiosity changed me more than the price ever could.

VII.

I still own that original BTC.

I never added to it. Never day-traded. Never gambled with altcoins.

I held it—not because I was clever, but because I was too stubborn to sell it when it crashed.

And that’s what Bitcoin taught me, more than anything else:

That value doesn’t always come from the numbers.

Sometimes it comes from waiting.

From weathering the winter.

From believing when it would’ve been easier to walk away.

VIII.

Now, when people ask me if they should “get into Bitcoin,” I tell them this:

Don’t do it for greed.

Don’t do it because you think it’s a shortcut to wealth.

Do it if you want to learn.

If you’re willing to lose.

If you’re ready to question everything you’ve been taught about money.

BTC isn’t just currency.

It’s curiosity.

And that’s worth more than any coin.