Thank you to zasad@ for reaching out to me. I appreciate the effort and I hope I'll be a little interesting to keep readers awake, at least up to the half way point...

1. When and why did you become interested in cryptocurrencies?

I do not remember the exact month but it was sometime around early 2018, I definitely missed the bull run and Bitcoin was on its way down at the time.
The reason I joined was 'curiosity'. I actually overhead a discussion about cryptocurrency related stuffs (the term was absolutely alien to me at the time). I picked interest and did more research on it, the deeper I went in the more my interest grew.

2. When and why did you buy your first bitcoin?

Full disclosure, I am not one for buying, I'm very frugal when it comes to investing and prefer to earn it when I can. I think the first time I bought bitcoins was when I was repaying a loan I took from @DarkStar_ I actually got a very good deal on the loan, as Bitcoin's market value crashed close to the time I wanted to effect the purchase. This made me fancy myself as a trader for a while and I actually took up courses on it and stocked on trading material, I still nurture the ambition and would like to be an active trader someday.

3. How did you get on the forum?

When I fell into the cryptocurrency rabbit hole this forum was recommended to me by an acquaintance as a good source for crypto knowledge and also a way to earn (more of the latter actually). On finding the forum I discovered the repository of knowledge it contained and I have been hooked ever since.

4.1. What prevents mass adoption of cryptocurrencies?

There are a couple of factors I can name, such as;
Scalability limitations
Price volatility
Legality in various regions
[Lack of] Availability of smart devices (more felt in EMDEs)
However, the most important one I think is the reluctancy of individuals to take responsibility of their assets and actually be their own bank. People have gotten used to relying on third parties whenever they can and since we went from storing stuffs in our back yard to keeping it in a bank's vault, it has become a norm that would be difficult to break on a global level.

4.2. How do you think mass advertising of gambling projects has a positive effect on the development of the forum or harms the community?

I don't know the particular reason why gambling platforms were singled out with the variety of sectors promoted on the forum. I don't think it has a pronounced positive or negative effect. Advertised sites are not endorsed by the forum and does not really affect its growth. I actually enjoy the freedom the forum offers to users regardless of their motive of registering; promoting a website, running a campaign, organizing an ICO, etcetera.
I am really concerned with how a bull run would lead to a large influx of new members including potential scammers/spammers

4.3. How do you consider whether 2-3 years of experience in cryptocurrency is enough to successfully invest or does an investor need to receive special education?

Firstly, I don't think an investor needs any form of special classes, imagining it, I'm painting a picture of a class with multiple slides of various cryptocurrencies showing alternately on a screen. In my opinion, Someone should only invest in what they are actually interested in, special education cannot grow genuine interest. This may be a bad strategy as it limits your portfolio.
I also wouldn't say 2-3 years is a threshold to determine an experienced investor. Some could get their eureka moment, when the whole technology makes sense to them, within a week or a month of learning about bitcoin (or whatever currency they were researching on), some would not get it even after a year and are likely to cut their losses at the glimpse of a crash.
Experience however builds your resolve, having gone through multiple market cycles one would be less moved by small changes in charts. After three years an investor should have built up more stoic and more knowledge.

5. What do you think of the current Merit system and signature campaigns? Do they harm the forum?

The merit system has definitely had a positive impact on the forum. Major changes like the launch of merits and the enhanced newbie restriction has helped to rid the forum of spam and account farms to a reasonable extent.
Signature campaigns offer a means for users to get an extra buck for doing what they love doing, why not? It would harm the forum if users saw it as the purpose of opening an account rather than as an added perk, without the merit system it would have been quite chaotic. With the merit system, it is tolerable.
It could also be an incentive keeping high quality users very active.

6. The most useful forum topic? Most helpful users?

I earlier wrote that this is a repository of knowledge, impossible to single out one post as the most useful as there are so many of those.
Every user interested in genuinely contributing positively makes this cut.

7. 3 things you would implement on the forum?

I should prefix by saying the forum is being run quite well at the moment and there is very little that can be improved. But, if I'm to pick;

Firstly, there is an idea I have always wanted to experiment. I've never liked the layout of signatures in message pages, I don't mind them in general discussion threads, as I actually wear one, but I don't like such advertisements in private messages. Understanably, not all signatures are promotions, but I can do without them when chatting with a fellow member. An Avatar would be enough to give a user their unique persona (some are promotions, but are less prominent than signatures)
Secondly, I will implement 2FA. Very recently a bitcointalk user was hacked, bringing account security to the fore, and while one may have to slip up for a hacker to take over their account, it would be much more difficult if profiles were 2FA protected.
Lastly, a default dark theme layout would be nice Cool

8. Do you trade on exchanges or invest in projects?

I am very frugal and do neither of this.

9. Tell a story about your big profit or big loss?

Retrospectively, my biggest loss or regret is not finding out about bitcoin much earlier than I did.

10. What do you think about the DEFI ecosystem?

I have glossed over a few articles about it, and so far have not seen anything that actually caught my eye. For now, I don't hold any opinion on it

11. Is your anonymity a vital necessity or precaution?

I am somewhere in the middle. I am not obsessed with maintaining my anonymity but would much rather be and to this end I will take (to a reasonable extent) precautions to maintain that privacy.

12. The last cryptocurrency book you read?

Shamefully I'm yet to read any yet, although I've skinned through "Mastering Bitcoin" a couple of times looking for something specific. I mostly learn by reading consice write-ups or listening and watching pod casts or YouTube videos, anything that gets me the exact information quicker

13. Advise 3 cryptocurrencies/tokens for investment in the next 1-2 years?

Bitcoin, Bitcoin and Bitcoin. I do not know nearly enough of any other cryptocurrency to recommend it as an investment.

14. How much will Bitcoin cost at the end of 2020?

*Looks into my crystal ball* between $14,000 - $18,000

15. P.S. (Optional)

As a side note; it costs nothing to be nice. As a newbie on the forum I received guidance and support from more established members who made my journey much more productive. This attitude made the bitcointalk much more welcoming to me - The forum is only as strong as the community behind it.
Looking to the future; Bitcoin is a technology that would transcend generations and this forum should still exist 10,50,100+ years from now as a reliable and efficient community to support the growth of the network.

Regards...