I saw it on the news at 300ish in 2013. I thought it sounded dumb. Why would anyone want money that fluctuates on value, and isn't accepted anywhere? Hard pass.
Then I saw it again on the news later that year and it hit 1000. "Oh, it's a scam." Turned a blind eye few a few years after that.
I listened to an interview about it on the Adam vs the man podcast in late 2012. Don't remember who was being interviewed, but I was convinced enough on the freedom money angle to buy some when it was $17. But I left active duty military service and moved to Idaho to go to school. Money was really tight and I ended up selling it all at $242 (I'll never forget that price) to pay bills. Then it hit $1k and I was pissed. Didn't buy any more for a couple years, mainly because I never had any extra money to spend. Started buying again, but just small amounts. I've had to sell a few times just to survive. Mined a bunch of Monero in 2016 but I was swapping it for Bitcoin and spending the Bitcoin with my shift debit card because I was unemployed then too. Monero was trading around $4-6 back then. Should have kept at least 10% but I didn't. It's been a journey the past ten years. Now I have a decent passive income thanks to my VA disability so that protects me. Most of what I buy nowadays goes to my kids' wallets. They're not allowed to do anything with it until they're adults.
