Years ago, I bought into Bitcoin. This is probably the 2013-14, long before people were really "buying into" Bitcoin. It was more or less an unknown entity, used by libertarians and conspiracy theorists.

The Gatekeepers of Polite Society had not yet approved of its use for mass consumption, as they evidently have today.

Bitcoin was relatively inexpensive back then. I made a couple of purchases over the course of a few months. All in all, I purchased 2 Bitcoin at a rate of $300-400 per coin.

Around 2015, I dropped my iPhone and cracked the screen so that it was not usable.

When I turned the phone on after it was repaired at the shop, I realized they had done a hard reset of the phone, meaning it was just as though it were a brand new iPhone.

This meant the app I used to store the Bitcoin was erased.

It also meant I was not able to retrieve my account containing the 2 Bitcoin.

I had not thought to write down my password for the app before giving the phone to the shop. And it's not like Amazon where you can just reset your password via email.

If you don't have the password written down on paper, or stored somewhere outside The Cloud, you ain't accessing your Bitcoin.

This was unpleasant news in 2015.

The going rate for a single Bitcoin in May 2015 - around the time this occurred - was $230.

Today, at over $55,000 per Bitcoin, it's pretty painful to even think about this incident.

So there are two Bitcoin out there that will never be accessed again.

I've heard from reliable sources there are tens of thousands of Bitcoin that have met similar fates over the years.

This is part of the reason why Bitcoin is so high in price here in 2024. Scarcity increases the value of anything.

The lesson was an expensive one, but you can bet I'll remember to write down my password for the Blockchain app when I decide to purchase more Bitcoin.

The nature of the technology forces one to be responsible like that, which is a good thing. God knows there's enough irresponsible financial dealings at all levels of society these days. 

All that to say today's episode of the Ba Vojdaan podcast is all about Bitcoin. It's not necessarily how to use Bitcoin as an investment per se, but the principles behind its creation, including how it teaches financial responsibility with its use.

The episode features a fellow named Wesley Schlemmer who I met in a mastermind group I was part of for a couple of years.

Wesley knows his stuff, and you can really hear his passion for the subject when he speaks.

Give it a listen, I promise you'll learn something about Bitcoin, and it might even help demystify it for you.

Here's the link to listen in: 

https://jamesdnewcomb.com/080824