I grew up in a low-income family where we could barely afford basic necessities, until the 2014-2016 crisis in Venezuela hit and I had to drop out of university to work construction so we could have enough food to pass the month. Luckily, we never went hungry because everyone in my house worked.

One day, I got tired of working construction and saw an opportunity to sell bread outside my house because bread was scarce due to the crisis. The bread business was successful, and the flexible hours allowed me to have free time to research different ways to "make money online." I discovered a few forums that paid a little bit of sats for creating posts, and that's how I slowly started to get into the world of bitcoin. I began creating my first content to upload online and be rewarded for it. Unbeknownst to me, I had started to monetize my hobby of photography, which eventually became my way of surviving the crisis and even helping my poorest family members, who needed it most.

In the midst of all this crisis, many Venezuelans began to leave the country in search of a better future. Even all the people I grew up with in my home left, and today, I am the only one left in Venezuela from my family nucleus. My mom, dad, aunts, siblings, and cousins are all outside of Venezuela. I am the only one who stayed, and it is because of the power of bitcoin that I am still able to pay for my life in Venezuela. In some way, I am "living the dream" because I am living off of what I love to do, and that is thanks to bitcoin tecnology and all of you too.