Back in 2013, my friend Jake was obsessed with this new thing called Bitcoin. I remember sitting in his cluttered dorm room, surrounded by textbooks and energy drink cans, as he tried to explain blockchain technology to me. It sounded like gibberish. He insisted I buy some, but I laughed it off, figuring it was just a passing fad. Fast forward to 2021, Jake had turned his modest investment into a small fortune, enough to buy a house and then some. I still tease him about his "magic internet money," but he gets the last laugh every time. Now, every time I read about cryptocurrencies, I can't help but think of Jake and wonder what could have been.