As of today, Bitcoin boasts a jaw-dropping market cap of $1.2 trillion. Just to put that into perspective—the country I live in, India , has a nominal GDP of around $4 trillion. Yeah, let that sink in. A single decentralised digital asset is worth nearly a quarter of an entire nation’s economy. Wild, right?

This stark contrast was one of the first things that made me realize—Bitcoin isn’t just “magic internet money” anymore. It’s a beast. A force. A revolution.

But let’s rewind a bit.
Myself Om Swami — call me whatever, but tech has always been my thing.

I got into computers wayyyy before engineering even happened. I still remember — it was class 2nd when my uncle, a computer engineer, brought a shiny new computer home. And like any normal 2nd grader, I did what any sane kid would do — play games non-stop. Hours of Roadrash, Counter Strike: Condition Zero, Project IGI and the legendary GTA Vice City.

Then came class 4th.

That’s when my beloved game station crashed. Boom. Wouldn’t start. I was devastated.

Enter my uncle with a magical CD. A few mysterious clicks, some loading screens, and voila — it was back. Fresh as new. I was fascinated.

I asked him, “What did you just do?! ”
He explained — “Windows crashed. Probably some virus from all the secret sharing you’ve been doing with your friends. So I just formatted it.”

And that little spark lit something in me.

Of course, the virus-fetching adventures didn’t stop 😅. But slowly, I learned how to reinstall Windows myself , track down suspicious processes , kill them, delete them — basically be the antivirus I wish I had.

And I didn’t stop there. I dove into group policies , registry edits , and control panel sorcery. Soon, I was the go-to tech guy in the family. Friends, cousins, neighbors — you name it. If their PC misbehaved, I was the fixer.

The best part? I was allowed to make mistakes. My uncle never stopped me. He let me break things and then helped me understand what went wrong. That freedom to fail fast was everything.

Fast forward to JEE prep…

It was crystal clear — I had to pursue Computer Engineering. I gave my best and cracked JEE Mains with 98.3%ile in 2023.

This led me to college, and that’s where things took a turn to real Coding……

Sooooo… my journey into Blockchain actually began with a hackathon.

At IIIT Lucknow, I got introduced to blockchain thanks to Axios — our tech society. Not long after, they organised Hackofiesta-v5 , a 36-hour offline intra-college hackathon. I jumped in with my team, and surprisingly — we bagged a special mention and a $150 prize!

Not a fortune, but it hit different. It was validation. We were onto something. That thrill of building something new and getting recognised — I was hooked.

Then came Spheron Network’s hackathon. This one was bigger, more competitive, and guess what? We ended up securing second place with our project Serenity — a decentralized stock exchange.

This wasn’t just fun anymore.

These early wins weren’t just about prizes — they made me believe in the real-world power of blockchain.

Then I stumbled upon Ethereum… and had questions.

While exploring Ethereum and smart contracts, I came across its big shift from Proof of Work to Proof of Stake. At first, it sounded great — eco- friendly, faster, all that jazz.

But the more I dug in, the more it felt… centralized. PoS seemed to favor the wealthy — those with more tokens had more power. That didn’t sit right with me.

That’s when Bitcoin entered the chat.

Bitcoin’s PoW model stood tall. Yes, it’s energy-intensive. But it’s pure. Democratic. You earn your validator spot by doing actual work, not by just being rich.

That value of decentralization , of being trustless yet trustworthy , stuck with me.

That curiosity led me to something truly special — Summer of Bitcoin.

And here I am.

From being the 4th-grade virus magnet to formatting PCs, from playing around in control panel to deploying smart contracts, from local hackathons to building decentralized systems — this journey has been wild, messy, and amazing.

What started with games, bloomed into passion, and matured into purpose.

Currently, I’m working with Fedimint , contributing to the Bitcoin ecosystem in a way I never imagined when I first touched a keyboard. It’s been an eye-opener, and I’ll be sharing a detailed blog about my experience with Fedimint very soon — so stay tuned!

Because this is more than tech.

Want to know more or building something similar? I’d love to connect :)
💼 LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/omswami2004
💻 GitHub: github.com/MrImmortal09