My Bitcoin Journey

I wasn't the 'cool' kid, and back then in the Czechia, we didn't have a word for 'nerd'; we were simply the odd ones out at social acceptance. My 'nerdiness' wasn't defined by excessive video game playing or exceptional programming skills; it was more about a cultural difference. I loved to read Charles Dickens and listened to folk music. I excelled in math and history but found grammar somewhat abstract. How ironic for someone who now uses calculator for everything and speaks four languages.

Unsurprisingly, I was the one who eagerly applied for a summer school organized by a libertarian institute in Prague. While I initially studied business administration, it was the inspiring economics teacher who piqued my interest.

Little did I know that studying economics could be rather dull. In two years, while pursuing two bachelor degrees (no, I'm not from a wealthy family; education is free in my country), I realized I had a good grasp of the bigger economic picture and didn't want to delve deeper. Instead, I focused on completing my degrees in Journalism and International Relations. I'm sharing this story because I genuinely believe that my studies and life experiences, including the impact of communism on my family, have shaped my current worldview.

I went through various job experiences, including starting my own company. It became clear to me that my real talent lay in connecting with people. I first heard about Bitcoin around 2015/2016 from a friend who was mining at home. I thought he was a bit eccentric, but in my defense, he had a habit of picking up and dropping hobbies in the blink of an eye.

Like many others, in 2017, I had a gut feeling that I should delve into this world, as we all witnessed the surge of media attention. It turned out my friend wasn't as eccentric as I initially thought. In 2018, his friend who wouldn't stop talking about Bitcoin retired early to pursue his dream of running a diving school, leaving behind the world of candlestick charts.

In 2019, I was hired by Trezor, and I fell down the Bitcoin rabbit hole. Who wouldn't when the orange pills is handed to me by OG's like Slush and Stick. Everything connected, and it felt like the missing piece of the puzzle. I weathered the storm of COVID-19 and delved into every eccentric subculture within the Bitcoin community - from the maximalists, crypto enthusiasts, NFT aficionados, and cypherpunks to the libertarians, progressives, and conspiracy theorists. The community is as colorful as it is united.

Upon joining Bitcoin Magazine, I became physically immersed in the community. Suddenly, I knew everyone and had the opportunity to engage in deep and meaningful discussions on hot Miami nights and rainy days in Amsterdam.

I hope to continue this journey to contribute to the strengthening of the Bitcoin ecosystem, as I'm a builder, albeit not in the binary 0-1 sense.