[thrashh]

Sure. My dad had a 2FA dongle in the 90s too

But outside of government, defense and banking, who exactly was using it?

It was not on the radar of the vast majority of people. Most technology takes decades to filter through the world

[xorcist]

Well, the vast majority of people live in impoverished areas of the world, so in a strict sense that's true.

But it was absolutely a standard form of authentication already, and regarded as best practice security for those who cared about such things.

Which perhaps weren't that many, but then again, still isn't.

[unbalancedevh]

I had to use it in the 90s for a job I had at an automotive OEM.