Vlad Bergal has been into bitcoin since 2013. Never popular or socially adept, Vlad was all-in on bitcoin before most people knew it existed.
“I would tell everyone about it, Tweet about it, post to forums, and sometimes even talk to humans IRL about it” said Bergal. “People would do the same thing they did with DND and my other interests. Ignore me or mock me.”
In 2017 when BTC hit $20,000, Bergal was “stoked”, and said he felt a long-awaited chance to be one of the cool people right around the corner. The bear market that followed delayed those dreams, but he didn’t give up.
“I knew the market would come back, and when it did, as a bitcoin OG with a podcast and YouTube show going back years, I’d get catapulted into the limelight and be invited on TV and Rogan’s show and to cool parties with beautiful women.“
The market did more than come back. In 2021, as BTC crossed $60,000, all the mainstream attention Vlad and his friends dreamed of for nearly a decade arrived. But it didn’t shine on them. Instead, people who were already cool in other areas swooped in and became the cool people in bitcoin.
“We always assumed when it became a big deal, we’d finally be vindicated, socially I mean. We’d be the cool people for once. Celebrities would be tweeting about bitcoin and tagging us. Our DMs would blow up. Instead, the cool people who laughed at us for years just hopped in without knowing shit about bitcoin and having no skin in the game and took all the attention. They didn’t even say thank you or tag us.”
Vlad’s world has been shaken. He’s baffled by how Twitter influencers who “Just discovered bitcoin yesterday and don’t even run a full node” are the ones sought as the hip representatives for bitcoin, instead of him and his six friends who share cartoon animal avatars. But he has not lost all hope.
“Just wait until these douchebags try to use bitcoin offline with memorized paper wallet addresses. Then the world will see what posers they are and we OGs will be the cool ones. Our time will come.”
