I would like to hear people’s stories about how they first heard about Bitcoin ?
I read about it in Wired Magazine in early 2013. I was familiar with gold farming in WOW so it didn’t seem too outlandish. It took a second mention in the media in November 2013 for me to pay attention and find this forum on google.
A poker playing friend told me about them in ~2010.
I used a $75 prepaid/gift credit card I received when I bought a set of 4 tires to buy about 5 of them when they were ~ $12. I used a convoluted series of services (Virwox, dwolla and possibly liberty reserve?).
I began playing poker with them, and once I had won a few I sold enough to send the $75 cash back to my bank account again via dwolla. I continued to play poker with Bitcoin for a few years, mostly on Seals with Clubs. Over this period I began to UNDERSTAND what bitcoin actually was, and meant for the world... I kept playing poker to win them.
Though I mined a little from time to time, and also even traded a few altcoins here and there I essentially never bought or sold very much Bitcoin at all... and really mostly only when it was at MUCH lower prices.
I did take a stake in Monero. Similarly to my poker stake, once the Monero had risen a bit, I sold enough of it to more than pay back the initial trade, raising my Bitcoin a touch, and keeping a little pile of Monero, which I still hold.
Last year I bought my wife an I a trip to Hawaii with bit of BTC...
Otherwise... all my chips are still on the table so to speak.
![Wink](https://bitcointalk.org/Smileys/default/wink.gif)
In the end... if Ver and faketoshi, and the IMF and Bilderburgers and whatever the next attack is can somehow destroy Bitcoin (which I doubt) at least I went to Hawaii!