How were bitcoiners orange pilled before books and podcasts? The white paper, mostly.

I tried reading it in 2011, but found it too technical and boring. Yup.😂

So what worked?

A bitcoin-only auction site called Bitmit. A place where I could sell baklava in 2012 with minimal fees.

I had a website at the time, but I also had listings on eBay & Etsy for extra exposure. The listing + PayPal fees sucked, so I sold at a markup to make up the difference.

BitMit allowed me to sell my baklava at a discount while taking home higher profits. Not bad, but it didn't stop there!

I could then flip the bitcoin on LocalBitcoins at a slight markup, earning profit on my profit!

Profitception! 🤯

I was an idiot in hindsight, of course. Had I known then what I know now I would have HODLed every sat, but that's not the point.

These experiences taught me the true value of Bitcoin, and it had nothing to do with a fiat price.

People were willing to pay over spot for something permissionless, with low fee transactions, that entities like PayPal couldn't stop.

I never could have gleaned this from the white paper.

By mid-2012, I saw that this was something to hold on to. I decided to move off the fiat standard, and on to the Bitcoin standard. That's exactly what I did before the end of the year.

And it truly started 13 years ago today.

Thanks, Bitmit. ✌️