What got you hooked on Bitcoin?

[fabrizziop]

I first saw something about bitcoin on 4chan /g/, I thought it was just trolling there, but then I read some thread at OCN to make free magic money with your computer. Anyways, what hooked me up was that me, a 15 year old from venezuela could move money back and forth without having an offshore bank account nor any of the AML shit you can't do while you're under 18. That really hooked me up. Even my family said "bitcoin is a scam" until I first got my first revenue from mining. Oh boy, if I had anything more than a 5770 in may 2011 I'd be like floating in money right now.

[evoorhees]

Upon first hearing about Bitcoin from a Facebook post in May 2011, I thought it was the silliest thing ever. Made-up pretend internet money?? Pssh. Lame.

Then I took about 30 minutes to learn about it.

Then I realized it was one of the most brilliant inventions mankind has ever created.

Then I quit every project I was working on, became utterly obsessed, and have been addicted since. My entire life is now immersed in Bitcoin and it's been the most fulfilling pursuit I've experienced. And things are just getting started...

[evolve]

Daytrading/swingtrading with low fees and without risking loss to my real investments.

[Melbustus]

Saw a Slashdot post in early 2011. Ignored it. Saw another one in May 2011. Downloaded the client. CPU-mined a couple bitcents. Read a lot about bitcoin, and more and more on macro/monetary-econ in general. Bought most of my coins via Tradehill on the way down between $20 and $2. Got more and more hooked both from a theoretical purity standpoint, and the practical ease of actually transacting with bitcoin.

So, I'm hooked, because:
1) I like Bitcoin's monetary properties.
2) The ease of transacting with bitcoin is great.  
3) The ability to fully store and manage my own money. No counter-party risk, no one else can mess with my funds or tell me what I can and can't do with them.

[kangasbros]

The idea of markets where barrier of entry is dramatically lower than in any existing markets. Anyone can just start using bitcoin, without any kind of permission, identification or licences.

[Adrian-x]

I Researched the idea to death in March or 2011 - after reading about "crazy people" buying Bitcoin on Slashdot. I started CPU mining right away, I knew it would be big and wanted in.  I talked the idea over with a few people and they laughed at me. My CPU churned away with no reward and Bitcoin fell off the radar.  

I next heard about it trading at $30, and I kicked myself. I then got p...d off that I couldn't CPU min with the new client and the fact I had no Bitcoin. )  so looked into pooled mining and added a bunch of GPU's to half a dozen old PCs.

After that I was hooked.

[Wekkel]

1. Bitcoin could solve a lot of today's problems

2. People's money - the grand experiment

[molecular]

satoshis paper

[Sitarow]

satoshis paper

Its fun.
The next MMO!

[n8rwJeTt8TrrLKPa55eU]

Came for the Bitcoin.
Stayed for the weekly dose of explosive scandals, intrigue, and controversies.

[evoorhees]

SR doesn't take anything but bitcoin.

LOL

[DoomDumas]

It seemed to be different from anything ive seen on the internet.
For me its something revolutionary in the very first steps but i dont think its the final bitcoin, what i mean its limited to 21 million what is really a small cap, there must be a split or a v2.0 bitcoin to make it masscompatible.
However, i think the model to create a valueable exchange good from cpu power is great.

21 000 000 Bitcoins is 2 100 000 000 000 000 satoshi.. and if it's even not enought, the protocol can be change to allow more than 8 decials..

I don't worry about the 21M, therefore, im not sure im right but the last bitcoin will be generated in more than a century !

[twoglovedanny]

profitability?

[Rassah]

Virtual World currencies (Linden), the gateway drug  

Found out about it in May 2011, instantly understood what it meant (thanks to SecondLife experience), and was hooked. Bought a bunch at $6, then at $12. Read Rick Falkvinge's article about its potential, and about how he moved his savings into it (I heard he cashed out before the crash). After that article, made the decision to use Bitcoin as my main short-term savings account. Bought at $14 and $16, bought A LOT at $22, then continued to buy about the same every two weeks with every paycheck as it kept declining all the way to $2.50. Never stopped believing, and kept buying, then kept doing that as it came back to $5, $7.50, $10, and so on. Despite the rise and crash, thanks to "dollar-cost-averaging" my savings account is worth thousands more than the USD that went into it. People laughed at the crazy risky idea, but my "short-term savings" of a few $k used for vacations, emergency fund, and whatnot, has suddenly grown into something that will soon surpass my IRA/401k, and it doesn't look like it's going to stop any time soon. It's been covering some very nice world travel vacation trips for me
Oh, also, the two GPUs I bought in May 11 paid for themselves in two months. I hope the giant ASIC will too.

[nameface]

I heard about bitcoin recently on Bryan Micon's Donk Down radio (I'm a poker player). Micon piqued my curiosity just enough that I decided to read a little more about it. Next thing you know I was binge reading everything I could get my hands on about bitcoin for days on end.

I figured I'd buy a few hundred coins (at ~$10) and fling some of them at the GLBSE. So far the prices on most of the mining bonds I bought have been dropping, but thanks to the rising price of BTC, I'm up slightly on my initial investment (fyi I've been liquidating many of my holdings).

I look at bitcoin as a legitimate revolutionary movement and I'm stoked to be a part of it.

[claire]

A company I work with started accepting and paying in bitcoins and since the payment is almost immediate as opposed to waiting 7 days for an ACH I can get my money and the get a MP card for emergencies like groceries and gas. I still report my income that goes on the MP card so it's not like I'm cheating any system. It all ends up in the same place after taking out taxes - feeding another person's kid before feeding my own >.>.

I also want to start a horror fiction site and take donations with bitcoins, but I don't know if anyone would be interested in paying.

[RyanRed]

I heard about bitcoin back in 2010. Didn't pay it much mind back then. Honestly didn't fully grasp the idea, nor understand it. Bitcoin? Huh??

Ran across it again doing a search for something random. Dug a little deeper. Things started unfolding. A light bub lite up, and I started my journey.

Only been at this for a month. But in this month I have done nothing but live and breathe bitcoin every waking moment. Still much is needed to be learned

This truly is a revolution I want to be apart of.

[World]

The world economic climate and latest news about that.

[Frequency]

Create money, yeah right i thought..   now i am mining and am creating money...thats a cool thing...
I will cash out in like lets say 2016 or so hopefully the coin price is up then..so it,s sort of an investment or saving in the longrun thats what made me hooked..not the quick money...and i now know how stable linux is... etc. etc

[molecular]

Create money, yeah right i thought..   now i am mining and am creating money...thats a cool thing...
I will cash out in like lets say 2016 or so hopefully the coin price is up then..so it,s sort of an investment or saving in the longrun thats what made me hooked..not the quick money...and i now know how stable linux is... etc. etc

You got that wrong... in 2016 bitcoin is the cash.