Quote from: skottiejay on May 27, 2014, 07:02:18 PM

Quote from: Explodicle on May 27, 2014, 06:34:02 PM

If life was easy I would have bought more in 2011 too. Sorry to be so harsh, but I honestly don't believe you couldn't have saved just a few bitcoins over three years, and acting like it's impossible is trivializing the efforts of everyone who did. Again, I apologize for this overly-emotional response.

really wasn't harsh to be honest, but you have to admit what are the chances of some joe schmo like me just winding up with the equipment or money to invest in something that people have already had a head start on? and no, i really couldn't just come up with a few bitcoins when they were 15 or something back in 2011. i had no choice but to choose between having my lights turn on or eating, i made a habit of going to dollar general (in the states) and buying 20 dollar cereal. for a while i had episodes of blacking out because i wasn't eating enough. this isn't fiction it's truth, the hard reality is not everybody is equally blessed with the set aside resources, and not everybody can see what's coming in the future. in my case, such is life.

First of all let me answer your question. The chances are >99% that a joe shmo like both of us had at least ONE PENNY to trade in-person. In 2011 transaction fees were completely optional and you could have literally bought a single Satoshi. I attended a couple very small Bitcoin user meetings, and even a guy off the street with $1 of recycling money could have bought SOME and saved it with a library computer.

below is an optional personal anecdote that doesn't actually prove anything, but I'd like to include it

I realize I won't win a poverty contest with you, but I'd still like to explain what this has been like. I was extremely frustrated in 2011 that I couldn't buy more. I wasn't blessed with set aside resources, I was in debt and went deeper in debt to buy BTC. I was living paycheck-to-paycheck and spending 3+ hours a day sitting/standing in public transit and biking. I thought I was "helping" my friends and family by telling them about it years ago, but instead they have been urging me to sell the whole time. I can't really blame them - here's a guy who can't even handle his own finances, spending what little he's got on semi-legal imaginary internet money.

Quote

You still have bitcoins? It's great that you got in before the bubble, but the fad is over and people have lost interest.

They told me that after the June 2011 rally, the April 2013 rally, and the most recent $1000 rally.

So now here I am, still working hard every day. I've got even less to show for it than I would have if I had never heard about Bitcoin... except for a dusty cold wallet, encrypted and split up - which might not even be worth anything by the time I finally decrypt most of it. It's not even a particularly enormous amount of money (hence the 4am job) but at least now it's something I feel is "significant" or "worthwhile", not the pocket change I squeezed out in 2011. Yes I'm still saving most of it, because it's been a good idea all along and most people still fail to understand what it's capable of (decentralized crowdfunding, prediction markets, entire legal systems, etc).

/anecdote

Gavin's Bitcoin Faucet was giving out like 0.05ish BTC in early 2011, so each visit would be around $25 now. And right now $25 would be a smart amount of money for a broke person to save in Bitcoin. You can go to some faucets and save at least some small amount for three years from now. Just don't choose to tell me you don't have choices - don't tell me it's more worth your time to argue with me.

Or you can draw me a nice color picture of an octopus riding an elephant while they are both holding balloons, and I'll send you 0.009 BTC. Offer valid only for skottiejay until 2014-05-31