Remembering 2018 Crypto First Touch and Its Lessons

Back in 2018, living in Europe, I rarely heard about cryptocurrencies, and it seemed to be something unclear, often associated with pyramid schemes and scams. One day, walking with a friend in a big European city, we came across a Bitcoin Store. They offered buying Bitcoin via an iBox and instantly depositing it into a trading platform. I had just opened a Binance account at that time. I purchased about 1,000 euros worth of Bitcoin at roughly 18,000 euros per BTC and transferred it to my Binance account with help from a store consultant, as I had no idea what to do with it back then. I recall the transaction fee was a staggering 20%. That was my first encounter with Binance and cryptocurrency overall. Later, Bitcoin's price dropped to around 4-5k, and I lost faith in it, shifting my investments into less promising altcoins like Neo and IOTA, which eventually dried up my deposit. Despite the losses, that experience stuck with me vividly. I even posted a photo on Instagram standing in front of the Bitcoin Store when I bought my first Bitcoin. Now, reflecting on that memory, I wonder—what would my friend say about it now? 😅