For years I thought my memory was broken.
I could swear I heard about Ethereum at the same time I started learning about Bitcoin.
But that seemed impossible because I got into Bitcoin in 2013/14 and Ethereum didn’t launch til 2015.
I had only just started learning to code and knew nothing about investment so there’s no chance I would have understood the whitepaper, let alone heard about the presale.
Yet I couldn’t shake the notion I heard about it at the same time.
Now (a decade later) ChatGPT has helped me figure it out.
I was a massive Tim Ferriss fan after reading the Four Hour Work Week.
It was the first book that made me realise that doing good at school, going to university and getting an office job wasn’t the only way to make a living. Or that it was possible to travel the world while working remotely.
Occasionally Tim would publish videos on his blog. This was before his podcast. And in May 2014 he posted a “Random Show” with Kevin Rose.
And right there in Random Show #24 Kevin mentions Ethereum.
He almost doesn’t bring it up or share the name. He describes it as “super geeky.”
But Tim eggs him on, and he gives a brief description, comparing it to JavaScript.
I’m sure that mention must have been the catalyst for me to look into what cryptocurrency really was.
Sure I had been using Bitcoin, but I thought it was a barter ‘mod’ for Minecraft multiplayer servers.
So if I’m right, thank you Tim & Kevin.
Most of the economy was closed to me at 13-15 years old. I couldn’t legally work, let alone open a business or accept/receive online payments. I had a bank account but could only do transfers and in-person card payments.
Learning how to use bitcoin and other cryptos completely changed the game.
No age or income requirement, no restrictions on where I could earn/spend my money. No need for parental permission or an ID.
That’s what allowed me to buy my first hosting/VPN subscriptions, start my first businesses, buy my first courses.
Eventually, I learned enough about crypto to be able to start working in it full-time without even finishing high school.
All because of one video.