Hey guys!

Since this is my first post on this site, I would like to say “hello” before I start.

Thank you. Todays topic used to be very painful for me back in the days, but I already reconciled with it. This story have a very important message at the end - I’m not really sure if its moral will be any useful in case of cryptocurrencies (all in all, nowadays everyone knows enough about cryptocurrencies to not repeat my mistakes) but may be in life. Are you ready?

Let’s go then!

My history began in 2012, when 1 BTC cost was somewhere about 11 $. Back then I was just a stupid, rebellious teenager, who always kept his head high in the clouds, and only thing I care about, was world peace and freedom.

Doesn’t that sounds stupid?

Maybe it even sounds noble, but it wasn’t. From time perspective I can see how harmful and naive were solutions that I followed and believed in. Well… Maybe not all of them. And for sure not secure, anonymous and – what is the most important – decentralized, inflation-free currency.

But I still didn’t know what is Bitcoin.

Bitcoin wasn’t very popular back then, especially not in my country. First time I’ve heard of it was because my friend, who was modern technologies enthusiast, just like me, but with one exception: he was a REAL, classical example of nerd. One day he came to me in school, and he was like:

- Ey yo, wassup my nig… Nigel? – I answerd calmly. Nigel was his name. (no it wasn’t).

- Ya heard ‘bout Bitcoin?! That’s cool stuff, ain’t it?! It’s gonna be our FUTURE!!! – screamed Nigel. (his name was Stanley).

I wasn’t as excited as he was, but nonetheless, I couldn’t wait to hear more about that mystery Bitcoin. He explained me all of the basics, what it is, why it’s good, and how to earn (mine) it. I was cancer concern.

In those good ol’ days, everyone was able to start mining Bitcoin on PC, which was really efficient and easy. There weren’t any other way honestly. Initially, I though that Bitcoin is just a worthless joke, and I gave up with mining…

…But Nigel didn’t.

“Hey, I’ve got my first Bitcoin! Hey, I got 2 Bitcoins! Yo, I’ve mined 5 BTC atm!”

Blah, blah, blah, I though, poor Nigel thinks that he can change his life by wasting energy and CPU. Whatev… Hey, you did WHAT?!

As I said, 1 BTC was worth 11$ back then. When I noticed how easy money that is, I tried to make some cash too, just like Nigel. So I downloaded dedicated software and started it, watching how money grows slowly.

Really slowly...

My computer wasn’t the best, actually, it was bunch of scrap – but it could handle that for the moment. It took me many days to mine any bitcoins, I was even letting my computer to work for the whole night.
(even though my parents were like: “Son, whatafook yo pc been on for the whole night?! We are disappointed!”).

Since income wasn’t as great as I predicted (and I was very impatient) I decided to give it up – but not exactly.

Mining software worked somewhere in background, and I just didn’t pay any attention to it. After some time, Bitcoin price increased to something about 22 $. Nigel didn’t fail to tell me about it, of course with enormously, outstandingly big smile of joy written on his face.

That reminded me about mining software, because of which my PC was screaming in pain and begging for euthanasia. I finally checked that out. And you know what?

I earned 2 Bitcoins!!!

(Which was more or less 50 $).

- Hey, Nigel – I said next day in school. – I got my BTC, how can I sell them?

- No, no, no, don’t do that! – he was afraid. – You should wait until the price will rise!

- Um… What? – I asked surprised. – How long you want me to wait?!

- I dunno… - he looked to the sky thoughtfully. – Maybe a couple of years, because…

- Oh, yuck fou, Nigel! – I got angry (damn, I was such an asshole!). – I don’t care anymore about this SCAM!

Many of you may not remember (or not even know) how hard was that to exchange Bitcoin for real many (Coinbase was just starting on). It was even harder for me, since I was just a central Europe teenager with no bank account, and my parents were not really into cryptocurrencies.

Therefore I made the worst business decision of my life. I gave up those bitcoins (all in all, it was just 50 $, right?) and I throw away my PC, because I just bought new one. Those Bitcoins were lost for good.

What was next?

I was totally not interested in cryptocurrencies for years, and I also lost contact with Nigel. Somewhere in August 2017, during regular internet browsing, an interesting news popped up in front of my face. It was about historical price of Bitcoin, which at the time was somewhere about 4 000 $.

I almost got heart attack.

I couldn’t believe in what I see.

I didn’t knew how to help myself. For me, person who really knew what is porn poorness, this was a GIANT loss. I decided to walk outside to take some air. I was running through my city for a few hours, constantly repeating in mind: “Why you wasn’t listen to Nigel five years ago?! WHY WERE YOU SUCH A [very brutal words]?!”

WELL, I GODDAMN SHOULD BE LISTEN TO NIGEL.

I will tell you honestly, I was crying for next three days (I really was xD). Happily, my girlfriend (which is now my wife <3) helped my with growing depression like she always do.

After I shook myself, I became one of the biggest cryptocurrency enthusiast of all. I spent hours on learning about them, about blockchain, about everything that is connected to it. I promised myself that I will never, ever be such an ignorant – especially not when it’s about cryptos.

So the moral of this story is simple: never be ignorant about anything, if you don’t know everything about it. And always be patient – patience is the key in life. And expect unexpected.

And listen to your Nigel.

But hey, what was I crying for? Was that because of those 2 BTC I threw away? Well, OBVIOUSLY, but not only. Maybe my loss was not as big as… You know, “pizza day” for example, but there was something else. I couldn’t get away from thoughts like: “How many BTC I could have, if I would be constantly mining for the whole time?”

I don’t know exactly, but it could be thousands of them. I could be a millionaire… Oh, you are right! What happened to Nigel?

Sooo…

I have no idea how many Bitcoins he had – he never told me. But I know that he spent them few days after my meltdown. For money he earn he bought a little flat in Cambridge, where he moved, brand new car, and saved something for launching his own IT company in the future. And he still have some savings for living. Good job, Nigel!

I don’t feel jealous about him of course, he is good guy. He deserved success. And I know, that I learned a very important lesson of life.

Remember – never be ignorant and always look for good occasions.
Those best are very inconspicuous.

(By the way, that’s why you should use Brave and collect BAT now!)

Well, that’s it! Thank you for your attention, I appreciate that. See you soon!