Before bitcoin, there was the End the Fed movement. One event I had participated in was a gathering on the steps of a Federal Reserve bank branch and we demonstrated our disgust with the fiat system by burning our dollar bills.

I felt, however, helpless. Burning those dollars actually increased the value of those dollars which remained (though by an ultra miniscule amount, probably less than $50 went up in flames that afternoon).

A couple years later I read an article describing bitcoin and I then learned about the genius of the proof-of-work algorithm. Bitcoin has been a part of my life, literally every day, ever since.