“For my first Bitcoin coding project, I decided to do something that sounds really dumb,” wrote Gavin Andresen. “I created a website that gives away bitcoins.” It was June 2010 and, in an era when obtaining BTC wasn’t easy, Andresen’s idea proved to be very smart. For the nascent cryptocurrency community to grow, it was essential that bitcoin be distributed as widely as possible. Only through having skin in the game, and sending and receiving BTC, would it be possible for people to understand Bitcoin and for it to grow from an idea into a global phenomenon.

https://news.bitcoin.com/bitcoin-history-part-3-turning-on-the-faucet/