It has been a bit of adventure to have joined in and been involved with the whole Bitcoin ecosystem.
I only just realised recently that I've had actually spent nearly 300 days on this forum and I've decided now that 300 days will be enough (so once I get to 300 days I'll "cease and desist" from posting which should be in two weeks or so from this post).
Like any adventure there has been many "ups and downs" for me on this forum (and IRL) since I first read an article about the Silk Road in July 2011.
In the time I spent on this forum I learned a huge amount about Bitcoin (thanks to the core devs and other technically savvy contributors that used to post here) and have thought quite a bit about the problem of "fiat currency" (which I see now as being perpetually doomed).
Unlike perhaps what has become the norm now I didn't actually enter into this ecosystem to make money (that was just a fortunate outcome because I believed in the concept and held on rather than cashed out between 2011 and 2013). Funnily enough all I was trying to do initially was to move money from Australia to China without being ripped off by bank fees.
Being a programmer I also wanted to contribute what I could and created a secure way of holding BTC "offline" (using only QR codes which is actually about the safest way possible). I also took an interest in the idea of "Turing complete smart contracts" and developed AT (Automated Transactions) which has been implemented on two blockchains (and actually beat Ethereum to go live by a year).
Some low points were getting involved with an infamous ICO altcoin (which was only due to having done work for Litecoin and then not being paid for that work) and losing my cool over insults about my wife (as this forum was becoming more and more of a cesspit).
I'm sure those that have been attacking me will be glad to see me go (and this is why unfortunately I will have to self-moderate even this last topic).
Hopefully when the forum moves to its new software platform some changes for the better might happen (as ad sig posting rubbish has basically ruined it for anyone who looks for actual information).
For those still wondering - Bitcoin really is a revolution - and we are only just seeing the start of what this revolution will bring us.
I will be helping with some other projects and will continue to work on my own project and look forward to seeing how things pan out for Bitcoin and the cryptosphere in the next few years.
