My 12-Year Bitcoin Anniversary! .:. Ph's Shorts 🩳

I think it was yesterday when I got an email from BitStamp exchange, where they reminded me about the most important crypto moment in my life... The moment I bought my first Bitcoin! I have told the story before, but it's always nice to remind yourself and reflect on that day with "present goggles!" Perfect story for #TBF!

It was back in 2013 when a friend of mine told me the story about this important thing that will change the world! I had no idea about crypto, blockchain, about anything similar... Before that, there were some tryouts of creating some "GOLD" tokens, but they had nothing to do with the blockchain tech...

What was even more interesting was the story about the friend who told me about it... It was 2005-2006 when I opened a PC shop in my hometown, and he was running his for a couple of years before that... When you are a newbie, you have to fight for your "market cut", so he was one of the main "enemies" in those first years... After a while, a big franchise company came to our town and disrupted everything! They dumped prices as they had much more "trading volume" and better purchase price than anyone else in town, so we decided to put our misunderstandings on the side and create a joint venture... It was the only way to survive! And it was working!

But, the real challenge came in 2008, when the global financial crises came... Right a few months before the biggest hit, we invested a lot of money and opened additional stores in 2 different cities in the country... Of course, after just a few months, we were unable to pay expenses, and we had to cut our losses asap... In those days (like in bear markets), everyone was on the edge, discussions started, and my friend was pushed out from the company (but still, he sold his stake to another person)... To make things worse, I was one of those who had to cut the loose and push him out!

But, somehow, even after these "ugly moments", we still stayed friends, even more respecting each other! It sounds odd, but when someone says "burn your bridges behind you", I always remember this story and how the new bridges CAN BE BUILT! Despite being hurt (or hurting others) or some ugly events from the past...

Back to the "present story"... So, he was the guy who sold me my first Bitcoin, and as I had no idea of wallets, I created an account on Bitstamp and sent him my deposit address... I paid my first Bitcoin in cash! Peer to peer, baby! 😂

Long story short, I sold that BTC after a few months when I got scared that it will go to zero, like any other noob... lol... And not just that, in those moments, I told myself: "I will never come back to the crypto world!"

You know the rest... as here we are... 12 years after that, I'm living by/from/for crypto!

Thank you for your time,

--ph--