Very good point. I'm one of those who first heard of bitcoin fairly early. To the best of my recollection it was 2010 or 2011 and caught my brief attention because of bitcoin's role in Argentina and the WikiLeaks donation cutoff. Somehow it failed to capture my imagination despite broadly understanding that PoW mining was involved and that bitcoin could be used to help circumvent capital controls.

Knowing there are always many opportunities to profit (financially or otherwise) should be an encouragement to all of us to stay curious and keep learning.

I'm currently reading Digital Gold: Bitcoin and the Inside Story of the Misfits and Millionaires Trying to Reinvent Money and it's fascinating to read of the origins of bitcoin and all the roadblocks the community has overcome in the 8 or so years since the mining of the first coins.