My trip down the rabbit hole started in 2017. I had been aware of Bitcoin before long before that, going back to an interview I heard with Gavin Andresen on the EconTalk podcast in the early 2010s. I was skeptical then for all the right reasons: throughput issues, I deduced that it wasn't actually anonymous and I wasn't sold on it as having actual traction (despite being very aware of the philosophical questions around money). I paid it some minor attention by reading some research papers, news articles and actually