Same experience here. But I did not understand it at first because my goal was to get my hands on some psychedelics through the silk road.12 years later, while once high on psychedelics and trying to find a new motivation, the truth just bursted in full bright orange. It finally became all clear…

From Ashes to Sats: My Bitcoin Redemption

Act I: The Fugitive’s Gambit

I was a ghost, fleeing a past charred by war, corruption, and the slow bleed of family wealth in a land where hope was contraband. My veins had been a playground for every narcotic known to man, and I’d hit rock bottom so hard it left a crater. To survive, I ran—far from the warzone, far from the ghosts, to a place where nothing could find me, not even myself. By 2012, I’d clawed my way to five years clean, a fledgling attorney at 30, making decent coin but bored to the point of madness. The itch was back, whispering relapse like a siren song. Then I stumbled into the Silk Road, the dark web’s candy store for lost souls. I dropped $2,000—blood money from my new life—on 400 Bitcoin. I didn’t care what it was; I just wanted the high. Half of it vanished into packages that never arrived. “Scam,” I spat, tossing the rest—200 BTC—onto a hard drive, a USB stick, an SD card, and a scribbled seed phrase. I forgot about it, like a bad date.

Act II: The FBI’s Knock

2013. I’m engaged, distracted by love and the promise of a future that doesn’t smell like regret. Then the news hits: the FBI’s cracked the Silk Road, hauling its secrets into the light. My heart stops. Where I live, getting caught means a life sentence, no questions asked. Panic sets in like a fever. I dig up every trace of my digital sins—the hard drive, the USB, the SD card, the seed phrase scrawled on a crumpled Post-it—and obliterate them. Fried, smashed, burned, gone. I erase Bitcoin from my life, pretending it was just a fever dream. The irony? I was free, but I’d torched a fortune in the process.

Act III: The Crypto Casino’s Siren

2017. The world’s gone crypto-mad. Friends at dinner parties babble about “blockchain” and “moon Lambos” like cultists. Bitcoin’s not just dark-web drug money anymore—it’s real money, and it’s soaring. I check the price: thousands per coin. My stomach lurches. Those 200 BTC I incinerated? They’d be worth millions now. I curse my 2013 self, but the FOMO’s got me by the throat. I buy two BTC for another $2,000, chasing the next big thing: XRP, the “banker’s coin,” ripping at $1.80. Bargain, right? Wrong. A month later, the market tanks, and I’m wiped out, left with 0.7 BTC in a hot wallet. “Crypto’s a rigged casino,” I growl, swearing off it like a bad habit. Again.

Act IV: The MacBook Mirage

2019. Married, stable, in love with the woman of my dreams. Life’s good, but I want to surprise her with a shiny new MacBook. I find a sketchy website that takes Bitcoin, and that 0.7 BTC in my wallet feels like found money. Why not? I send it off, visions of her delighted face dancing in my head. Surprise: it’s a scam. The website vanishes, along with my Bitcoin. I laugh—a bitter, hollow sound—because of course it did. I’m the guy who turns gold into ash every time.

Act V: The Orange Pill Epiphany

December 2024. Two kids, a wife, a career that doesn’t make me want to scream. I’m 42, and I’ve finally swallowed the orange pill. For six months, I’ve been a Bitcoin zealot, devouring whitepapers, podcasts, and maxis’ rants on X. I’m all in, converting every asset I can into BTC, preaching its gospel like a man possessed. The irony stings like cheap whiskey: I could’ve been a king, but I fumbled every chance. I burned 200 BTC out of fear, lost 200 more to scams and bad bets, and still, I’m here, starting over. The market’s volatile, the skeptics are loud, but I’m not giving up. It’s still early—Bitcoin’s barely begun its dance.

Moral of the Story: Life’s a cruel comedian, and Bitcoin’s the punchline. I lost millions to fear, greed, and my own stupidity, but I’m still standing, stacking sats like a penitent monk. Don’t give up, even when the universe laughs in your face. It’s never too late to get back in the game—Bitcoin’s clock is still ticking, and the future’s wide open.

Hello! Is there anybody in there? Just nod if you can hear me…