It all started like a joke and then it evolved to what we have today, I remember the pizza incident 2010, although, it marked the first significant use of BTC for commercial purposes but it also shows how far this wonderful gem has come.
Built on a Blockchain by a mysterious individual who isn't exactly doxed, today alot of us has acquired wealth from it, gained financial freedom and even retired thanks to it, BTC is really to me a wonder and a mystery.
I do not think Bitcoin started as a joke, it was not a memecoin that we joke around with today. Bitcoin started on a strong business note but many people did not take it serious and only those who did benefits now. Some mined Bitcoin as a joke or game to pass time when they had nothing doing but some people took it serious and invest money into it. I have read about the twins that got a settlement from Mark the owner of Facebook and invested into Bitcoin and cryptocurrency exchanges and they are now benefiting from considering Bitcoin as a serious business. Bitcoin was not created for wealth purposes only but was created as a currency because of how bad the dollar was turning into and upto this date the dollar is still becoming worst every year.
it is indeed a wrong mindset to think that bitcoin started as joke ,it only those that don't really know or have about the nature of bitcoin will ever think or have such perceptions about bitcoin starting as a joke.bitcoin block chain is something that was well thought out by satoshi, if we also look at the decentralised nature of bitcoin, its halving and lots more none of this looks like a joke.