On May 22, 2010, a programmer made a seemingly foolish decision — to exchange 10,000 Bitcoins for two pizzas. Looking back now, that transaction is worth $650 million. People in the crypto world often use this story to lament missed fortunes, but what we should really remember is something else.

Satoshi Nakamoto left us not just an appreciating asset, but a bold experiment. A currency system independent of central banks, replacing traditional trust mechanisms with code. That is the truly admirable part.

Just look at the 14 years of Bitcoin’s evolution. It went from a geeky toy to an asset fiercely sought after by institutional investors, and finally entered the official financial ecosystem. Every time the price crashes, people say it’s a scam; every new high, others regret not entering earlier. But regardless of rises or falls, the original idea — using technology to break financial monopolies — has never changed.

The current market is very interesting. Large funds are buying in, the halving cycle is approaching, and the entire ecosystem is evolving rapidly. If you’re still just watching from the sidelines now, in a few years when you look back on this period, it might be another kind of regret. What did those who mocked the pizza programmer back then really learn?