How has Bitcoin changed your life?

[fatigue]

On these forums ive seen some pretty great success stories and some stories of great failure. Ive seen obsession, depression, digression, and accession, and now i have a question. How dramatically and in what ways has your life changed since you have learned about Bitcoin? I for one have become obsessed over the last few months, incurring around 4-5 hours of forum time/day....

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[Foxpup]

Since I started using Bitcoin, I now have more money and can spend it more freely. It's not exactly dramatic or life-changing, but it's the little things that make all the difference.

[Gareth Nelson]

You guess how

Before bitcoin, I was a random psychology+computing student

[AmazonStuff]

BTC gives me opportunity to reach bigger numbers of customers and it's a real boost for my business. When I learned about BTC, I realized that it has solution for every problem I had.

[drakahn]

I hate the current world economy, i have never saved or collected wealth as i think it is useless... until bitcoin

The bitcoin economy gives me a sort of hope for capitalism, and since bitcoin i think i agree a lot more with free market supporters

I've always hated capitalism, mainly because its so rewarding of corruption... but bitcoin is very different, i only hope crap like bitcoinadvertisers with fiat style corruption die off and prove a free market works at moderating itself.

[Mageant]

For the better.

[hazek]

BTC has given me hope that I may experience true freedom in my lifetime and it opened a few doors to some business ideas I have and am very passionate about that I probably couldn't even attempt to develop without it. Most of all it has given me philosophical ammo with which I can easily shoot down any idiotic idea about reality and life and economics between people that various psychopaths usually like to peddle as truth.

[TeslaUa]

Everything can be understood in comparison. And bitcoin is something can I can compare with money system we got on our hands. To my personal taste - bitcoin is better design.

[cmg5461]

I used to be an adventurer like you, then I took an arrow in the knee.

[kiba]

Not much yet, other than being a really interesting facet of my life.

[SimonL]

Before Bitcoin I was largely discontent with the GFC and the corrupt nature of governments bailing out banks, etc. and even before the GFC I was a big proponent of gold as it was more resistant to inflation etc. A few days after discovering Bitcoin I knew this currency would completely change the way we think about currency and financial transactions, and greatly undermine the legitimacy and authority of banks and governments. I am eager to see Bitcoin succeed, and I watch the progress of Bitcoin daily. Over the last two years, though I've not contributed much to the Bitcoin world, I'm a fervent proponent and it has educated me in ways I never expected. My understanding of just how corrupt the existing system was, was never fully apparent to me until I was able to sit Bitcoin and Fiat side by side and then ask some really uncomfortable questions.

Bitcoin has permanently upended any small amount of trust I had left in fiat and thoroughly educated me about financial systems on an unprecedented level. Yeah, it's changed me

[finway]

6 hours a day, 11 months now.

[Bees Brothers]

I used to read books... now I hang out on the forum and other bitcoin related websites.

[eleuthria]

I had been an accountant for 2 years under a CPA when Bitcoin first started.  I went into the field because all throughout highschool all you would hear is how the tech industry is getting harder to break into due to .com bubble burst and increasing amounts of outsourcing.

I got into Bitcoin in April of 2011.  By the end of April I had built my first computer from parts (actually, many computers), getting myself 5 GH/s just before the bubble.  At the start of May, I noticed Bitcoin was growing and pool options were limited.  There were only 3 pools at the time, so I started making BTC Guild.  On May 9th, it launched, becoming the 5th oldest public pool/4th oldest active pool.

The last year has been quite a rollercoaster.  I've experienced DDoSes and extortion.  I have gone from somebody who used shared web hosting (and a VPS once) to owning a dozen servers located in three datacenters.  I quit my job in April of 2012 to pursue my own business.  I incorporated a business for VPS Hosting that launches next month with amazing price point offerings and a management interface that testers have stated is the best they've ever used.


TL;DR:  Acquired bitcoins.  Stopped counting beans.  World domination eminent.

[isthisreallife]

I'm very new to Bitcoin. No idea how it will work out, but I know it'll be a trip finding out.

I find the idea of bitcoin fascinating. I've always been good with my money but honestly I don't find investing interesting. Bitcoin's nature, the extra power you have over your money makes investing with bitcoin totally different.

I'm starting slow, but it's been a lot of fun so far.

[fatigue]

Great stuff so far guys, thanks for sharing.

TL;DR:  Acquired bitcoins.  Stopped counting beans.  World domination eminent.

Lol this comes back to 'disregard currency, acquire bitcoins!'

4 to 5 hours a day.. yeah I have been doing that for over 8 months now.

BTC has been good to me over all. It started off as a great idea, then a hobby and now almost a full time job.

Personally I have had some epic win and some epic fail along the way. Crazy stuff it is:)

I'm glad to see how BTC is progressing.

I'm embracing the 'hobby' stage at the moment, I just think you would have to be immensely stupid to not make your money work for you. (Oh hey, that's 98% of the world!)

[eleuthria]

TL;DR:  Acquired bitcoins.  Stopped counting beans.  World domination eminent.

Lol this comes back to 'disregard currency, acquire bitcoins!'

That's what I was trying for, but I haven't disregarded currency .  Unfortunately it's hard to find a reputable datacenter that will accept Bitcoins, similar with server hardware vendors, heh.  Not to mention I currently prefer conversion to fiat for tax purposes.  I don't make any attempts to hide my identity (my real name is under my avatar).  Since I run what has generally been the 2nd largest pool for the last year, I'm very paranoid about a tax audit.  Luckily the 3 years spent working as a tax accountant gave me enough experience to handle my business in a clean and consistent way.

[fatigue]

TL;DR:  Acquired bitcoins.  Stopped counting beans.  World domination eminent.

Lol this comes back to 'disregard currency, acquire bitcoins!'

That's what I was trying for, but I haven't disregarded currency .  Unfortunately it's hard to find a reputable datacenter that will accept Bitcoins, similar with server hardware vendors, heh.  Not to mention I currently prefer conversion to fiat for tax purposes.  I don't make any attempts to hide my identity (my real name is under my avatar).  Since I run what has generally been the 2nd largest pool for the last year, I'm very paranoid about a tax audit.  Luckily the 3 years spent working as a tax accountant gave me enough experience to handle my business in a clean and consistent way.

I prefer not to for taxing purposes

[hazek]

Luckily the 3 years spent working as a tax accountant gave me enough experience to handle my business in a clean and consistent way.

I bet it did.. wink wink 

j/k 

[mb300sd]

The absolute best investment I've ever made.

[Realpra]

Made about 3-4 business ideas possible that otherwise would not have been.

 + another great investment/political weapon.

[OgNasty]

Bitcoin has made my friends and family think I have lost my mind.

It has also made me very happy.  I'm glad to help promote what I feel is something that can really make a difference in the world.  I am a bit less productive at work these days as well...

[adamstgBit]

Bitcoin has made my friends and family think I have lost my mind.

It has also made me very happy.  I'm glad to help promote what I feel is something that can really make a difference in the world.  I am a bit less productive at work these days as well...

yup same here 

[teek]

Bitcoin has made my friends and family think I have lost my mind.

OgNasty - I kinda know what you mean I think, but care to elaborate?  lol

[Nyhm]

I have a background in distributed protocols and cryptography, and I'm completely enthralled by Bitcoin. It dominates my daily thought process, and I have bunches of potential ideas. That said, so far, I'm just tinkering on the side, as I have other (non-Bitcoin) endeavors that need my immediate attention. Nonetheless, I'd be thrilled if Bitcoin could become the foundation of the rest of my software development career. (All this enthusiasm, and I only own 1.88btc, and that's just from the generosity of others. I look forward to the day when BTC can pay the rent.)

[virtualfaqs]

I'm down a lot of money and hope BTC price will rise, and I can recover my losses. 

[dacoinminster]

Bitcoin turned my $200 investment into $30000 (during the bubble) into $7000 (now).

I'm a software engineer, and I'm about to start a really awesome job after 10 years at a different company. However, a bitcoin-related job is my dream. They just don't exist yet (at least, not for a guy with 3 kids and a mortgage).

[knight22]

Bitcoin doesn't changed my life, but I hope it will drastically do in a close future!

[fatigue]

Bitcoin turned my $200 investment into $30000 (during the bubble) into $7000 (now).

I'm a software engineer, and I'm about to start a really awesome job after 10 years at a different company. However, a bitcoin-related job is my dream. They just don't exist yet (at least, not for a guy with 3 kids and a mortgage).

Lightbulb! thank you much

[Jan]

I gave up running and gained a few pounds 

[mystery2048]

Bitcoin saved my life

[ridgemont4]

Made it worse.

[adamstgBit]

Made it worse.

interesting, how?

[hazek]

Made it worse.

interesting, how?

Go read his recent posts. He is either insane or a troll...

Could be both.. 

[ridgemont4]

Made it worse.

interesting, how?

Go read his recent posts. He is either insane or a troll...

Well, seems I have somebody answering for me. Guess I don't need to respond for myself in that case.

Made it worse.

interesting, how?

Go read his recent posts. He is either insane or a troll...

Could be both.. 

Would that really be something to laugh about if it were true?

[adamstgBit]

Made it worse.

interesting, how?

Go read his recent posts. He is either insane or a troll...

Well, seems I have somebody answering for me. Guess I don't need to respond for myself in that case.

no no

i wana hear why bitcoin made your life worse

[ridgemont4]

Made it worse.

interesting, how?

Go read his recent posts. He is either insane or a troll...

Well, seems I have somebody answering for me. Guess I don't need to respond for myself in that case.

no no

i wana hear why bitcoin made your life worse

It's the community that kills it. So I figure I've wasted my time here, as my IQ has dropped. Unfortunately this community is a societal virus so there's really no escape. Just like the United States government is a societal virus that no one, not even the citizens can escape from (who have been mostly brainwashed).

[ridgemont4]

Made it worse.

interesting, how?

Go read his recent posts. He is either insane or a troll...

Well, seems I have somebody answering for me. Guess I don't need to respond for myself in that case.

no no

i wana hear why bitcoin made your life worse

It's the community that kills it. So I figure I've wasted my time here, as my IQ has dropped. Unfortunately this community is a societal virus so there's really no escape. Just like the United States government is a societal virus that no one, not even the citizens can escape from (who have been mostly brainwashed).

I am an American. I left America...      

(I am infected zombie and will eat ur brainz!)

Lucky.

[adamstgBit]

Made it worse.

interesting, how?

Go read his recent posts. He is either insane or a troll...

Well, seems I have somebody answering for me. Guess I don't need to respond for myself in that case.

no no

i wana hear why bitcoin made your life worse

It's the community that kills it. So I figure I've wasted my time here, as my IQ has dropped. Unfortunately this community is a societal virus so there's really no escape. Just like the United States government is a societal virus that no one, not even the citizens can escape from (who have been mostly brainwashed).

in any other community your IQ might seem high
and in this community your IQ might seem low
but i assure you, your IQ hasn't changed
its all relative 

[adamas]

High IQ + christian = paradoxum 

[ridgemont4]

High IQ + christian = paradoxum  

Prove it.

Waging on popular consensus is not proof. but I know that's why you posted the big grin, because you know people generally agree with that statement.

[cmg5461]

High IQ + christian = paradoxum  

Prove it.

Waging on popular consensus is not proof. but I know that's why you posted the big grin, because you know people generally agree with that statement.

With lower IQ comes lack of reasoning.

[schnell]

I am relatively new to Bitcoin, but already it has enabled me to meet loads of nice people, and opened up a career(not really a career, its in my spare time) in writing, and even writing for Bitcoin Magazine

[Matthew N. Wright]

How has Bitcoin changed your life?

Simple. Before Bitcoin, I was running an international college preparatory school in South Korea and constantly pressured to use my talents someplace outside the education field. I was ending my long work days by trying to spend some of my creative juices on Youtube videos and develop a few sites so that I didn't lose my development skills from childhood. I was slipping further and further away from the life I had dreamed of and becoming a corporate shill obsessed with materialism, buying the next new car, bigger house, etc (the exact same reason I -left- California) was starting to look like my destiny in the ass-backwards and simple minded country of Korea.

Developing a social network, I researched online currency models and discovered Ripple first. Then I fell upon Bitcoin. 2 months after I fell into Bitcoin, I had decided to sell my school of 3 years to my partner and work entirely in Bitcoin. Since then I have tried:

• Building the UABB (United Association of Bitcoin Businesses) which was intended as a solution to eventually eliminate scammers from our community; it wasn't received well and some community members (but mostly SA trolls) perceived it as some sort of power play in the community. After hearing the pro-decentralized ideals and anti-OTC rants, I agreed that anything that gives accreditation would be frowned on by the entire community and gave the source files of the entire site to the Bitcoin Police for use with Bitcoin OTC as they saw fit. The UABB eventually evolved into the UABCI, then into the DCAO (Digital Commerce Advancement Organization) which now has over 60 members. There are currently numerous proposals that mimic my original proposal and it seems the UABB was a good idea afterall, just poorly represented by an overzealous newbie.  
• Showing the community how easy it is to be Bruce Wagner by creating BitTalk.TV (http://www.youtube.com/user/bittalktv) and posting regular news and specials for the entertainment and education of the community. Ironically, what started out as a troll of Wagner ended up being taken quite seriously and eventually evolved into Bitcoin Magazine (which is vewy sewious!)
• Showing the community how to keep high standards for visuals by making sites like DialCoin (http://www.dialcoin.com). One of my personal pete peves is a complete lack of visual sense from this community. I understand there are not a lot of graphics designers, but why someone doesn't just sell some bitcoins and hire even a mild professional once in a while is beyond me. What a joke.

My life has changed because of Bitcoin in a most extreme way-- since July 2011 I have not worked any jobs or run any businesses outside of the Bitcoin economy. I have paid my rent, bought my food and built business after business thanks to Bitcoins. I am a true success story for everyone interested in claiming Bitcoin can change the world, and a good argument against people saying "you can't find work in bitcoin". All it takes is some talent, devotion, and willingness to raise standards yourself.

I've also learned quite a lot about economics, politics and cryptography and I think my path in life is pretty well decided for the moment thanks to influence from Bitcoin. I won't be leaving any time soon (not going to pull a Zhou Tong on everyone) and I can't wait to blow everyone's minds in 2012 and 2013 with what I'm planning, so that everyone will finally understand why I'm always late.   

Thanks to Bitcoin, I'll be a multimillionaire in a few years. That's how Bitcoin has changed my life.

[phantitox]

I live in Venezuela = socialism cubanism, disguised dictatorship, exchange controls, inflation of 33% and any other anti-imperialist yankee stupidity that you can think of the ill government of my country, so you can imagine how happy I am with the BTC 

[pirateat40]

Epically 

[proudhon]

Epically 

LOL!  Well played pirate.  Well played.  Hey, when you gonna let me in your club?

[teflone]

Paid a hooker in bitcoin, no longer a virgin...       

[rjk]

Paid a hooker in bitcoin, no longer a virgin...       

Really and actually? Because if so, that needs to go on the list of firsts....
And I hope you mean an actual hooker, not a cam session.

[teflone]

Paid a hooker in bitcoin, no longer a virgin...       

Really and actually? Because if so, that needs to go on the list of firsts....
And I hope you mean an actual hooker, not a cam session.

Ahhhh... that was funny, I was just joking around..
Thought that was obvious by the "No longer a virgin" part

[rjk]

Paid a hooker in bitcoin, no longer a virgin...       

Really and actually? Because if so, that needs to go on the list of firsts....
And I hope you mean an actual hooker, not a cam session.

Ahhhh... that was funny, I was just joking around..
Thought that was obvious by the "No longer a virgin" part

On these forums, you never can tell who is the virgin and who is bluffing.

[Matthew N. Wright]

^ Is a virgin


Oops, wrong thread.

[John (John K.)]

Back to topic, Bitcoin caused me to spend 70% of my online time over this forum. Not to mention the lulz gained = priceless.

[D4CH]

Having changed a thing.

[fatigue]

^ Is a virgin


Oops, wrong thread.

This is one of those lulz for me

Epically 

*clap clap clap*


But on a serious note, thank you every who has shared so far, this thread has turned out to be way more intriguing than I had originally anticipated.

[xxaudioxx]

well its almost a year since i stumbled bitcoin on one forums.. been hooked  sinced then.. invested most of my savings to mining rigs..

Total time logged in: 18 days, 19 hours and 38 minutes.

[David M]

Before Bitcoin:

Rural lodgings, national business, big government in front of me.

After Bitcoin

Rural lodgings, world business, big government behind me.

[teflone]

Before Bitcoin:

Rural lodgings, national business, big government in front of me.

After Bitcoin

Rural lodgings, world business, big government behind me.

Before bitcoin..

Local lodgings in small cages, small case of local lab domination...


After bitcoin..

No cages, tv show and a strong urge to take over the world nightly

[Xenland]

It's changed my life immensely,
Well everyone besides my lover thinks I am a nut considering I closed all my Bank accounts  and every time I mention some critique that is economical or a bank related topic, I hear a snark about Bitcoins in a negative fashion being brought up eventually.

When I talk about Bitcoin I get big smiles with a response of "How much are they worth again?" and when I respond with the amount they are worth in USD, they are talking under my voice saying "Basically nothing, heheh snarf snarf".

You'd be surprised how difficult it really is to buy anything with BTC and think about "Trust" in the back of your mind.

Every Bitcoin directory site is out of date more then half of links are not accepting BTC or are offline or showing up those advertisement search engine pages.

How ever, I do like that the value of Bitcoin goes up daily considering I believe their will be a slow increase in value all the way up to decemeber where it will level off. So even if I spend Bitcoins the way I see it the increased in value tomorrow will just pay me back more in the long run then next time I get paid. So that is a plus but still....

We need to work smarter!
Out of the Box
Practical

[GernMiester]

I sell them to pay bills with fiat=more cash in hand for me=good.
If i doubled my capacity I could easily buy a car, well a hyundai anyway...

[bg002h]

On these forums ive seen some pretty great success stories and some stories of great failure. Ive seen obsession, depression, digression, and accession, and now i have a question. How dramatically and in what ways has your life changed since you have learned about Bitcoin? I for one have become obsessed over the last few months, incurring around 4-5 hours of forum time/day....

I was a libertarian to begin with, but dealing with bitcoin-related issues made me see firsthand how our "benevolent" Government stifles everything. You need a frigging license just to sneeze.

Hasn't changed my life yet, but, I hope it will someday. I've learned a smidge about pgp, but that's it really.

[layyen]

Everytime i thinked free, with bitcoin, i can be free more in real world

[MysteryMiner]

For me Bitcoin turned out to be the invention of a decade, on a par with TrueCrypt and Tor. I can trade completely anonymously and almost instantly. This changed me from random kiddy using e-gold (remember that?) to really bad boy.

Bitcoin enables all sorts of other things previously impossible. SR is the best example.

[smracer]

I can now remove the heat sink and apply new thermal paste to a 5870 in less than 3 min.  So if Bitcoin fails at least I got that going for me.