The lucky and unlucky in the world of bitcoin: seven stories from 2017

Cryptocurrency is a dynamic field which has greatly expanded in the last three years. According to CoinMarketCap, the capitalization of the crypto market is currently at $682 billion. Capitalization of the leading cryptocurrency, bitcoin, is at $232 billion. The quick growth of the cryptocurrency’s rate has attracted a large number of new players to the field. Some have been able to make a fortune, while others have lost everything. It is these lucky and unlucky players who will be discussed today.

Anonymous bitcoin-millionaire

Some success stories about making a fortune on the crypto market are published by anonymous users on Reddit and Steemit. One such anonymous user told about his purchase of 12,000 bitcoins in 2010. He did not waste them on pizza like a programmer named Laszlo did in 2010, which is still remembered on different resources. For a few years, he simply forgot about his purchase: he had heard something about the price of bitcoin rising to $100 per coin, but for different reasons, he was unable to give too much attention to the cryptocurrency. Nevertheless, he saved his wallet’s data. When the rate of bitcoin started to grow rapidly in 2017, he remembered his bitcoins, whose market value now equals around $10 million.

The anonymous user was able to control himself and not rush to change everything. He currently sells bitcoins in small amounts so as not to draw attention to himself. He has no plans to drastically change his lifestyle but instead continues to work and make investments simultaneously.

Erik Fineman

Fineman was only 11 years old when he started to invest in bitcoin. Of course, the boy did not have money of his own, but instead, the future millionaire used the $1,000 he had gotten from his grandmother as a gift. Erik got advice on what to do with the money from his brother. In 2011, one bitcoin cost around $12. In 2013, he started selling his first coins, after which the rate rose to $1,200.

By 2013, Fineman had already made $100,000 out of the $1,000. With this money, he founded an educational startup in 2014. Things went well, and Fineman soon moved to Silicon Valley, travelled the world giving lectures, and made an agreement with his parents that if he were able to earn a million dollars by 18, he would not go to university.

In January 2015, Fineman got an offer to sell his company for $100,000. He was also offered 300 bitcoins as an alternative to fiat money. After a little thought, he chose the bitcoins. He continued to create different businesses, and by 18 he became a millionaire, winning the bet and refraining from university studies.

Jeremy Gardner

Like Fineman, Jeremy Gardner was among the first people who had faith in the bitcoin and who, in addition to believing, invested in it. This is what helped him strike it rich, although not by holding on to his hoard and then selling all of it and turning into a millionaire. Rather than doing that, Gardner relied on his business sense, investing in a variety of projects related to cryptocurrency, many of which earned him substantial dividends. Today Gardner, in his own words, holds a vast investment portfolio that ensures that he does quite well even when the bitcoin rate goes down.

Mister Smith

Another anonymous internet user shared his story of turning into millionaire thanks to bitcoins. In his case, there were no special business ideas or projects: Mister Smith simply purchased a lot of bitcoins in 2010, and then forgot about his investment for a few years.

In 2013, when the bitcoin’s rate rose significantly, Smith started to sell his coins. Eventually, $3,000 he had initially invested turned into 25 million dollars. Mister Smith began to spend his money on travel and other pleasures. As far as one can see, business is not in the picture: the man simply supports his lifestyle with the money he has made.

It must be noted, however, that he still keeps a thousand bitcoins in his wallet. He plans to sell them no sooner than their rate reaches $15,000 once again.

Olaf Carlson-Wee

This bitcoin millionaire became a believer in cryptocurrency the minute he learned about its existence. In 2013, he started a job at a bitcoin startup named Coinbase. At the time, cryptocurrencies had not yet become mainstream, and not many people had even heard about the bitcoin. Yet, Carlson-Wee was among those who had; moreover, he invested his own money into buying bitcoins. In addition to that, Olaf managed to get his employer to agree to pay his salary in bitcoins rather than fiat money. He did not spend all of it, saving part of his paycheck. As a result, when the bitcoin’s exchange rate soared above $10,000, he became a dollar millionaire.

Simon

The story of this anonymous user (Simon is not his real name) can hardly be considered encouraging. Simon started to work with bitcoins in 2011, and it was at the same time that he decided to give darknet and its marketplaces a try.

At one of these marketplaces, he met a seller who offered him a passport of one of the countries of the European Union for as little as 10,000 BTC, and for an additional 6,000 BTC, the same seller was ready to provide a document that would identify the bearer as a journalist from a respectable media outlet.

Simon sent the money over, but there was no rush to accept the payment and complete his order. The funds remained at an intermediary account of the exchange, and everything appeared to be well. After a while, however, Simon found out that the owner of the exchange was under arrest, and as a result, all bitcoin assets in the marketplace’s wallets were frozen. In all likelihood, Simon will never get his money back. All he can do is watch the exchange rate, calculating how much fiat money he could buy for bitcoins that he had imprudently transferred to darknet accounts.

Mark Frauenfelder

Mark can be considered lucky. He could have lost all of his bitcoins through his own negligence, but he managed to get them back. This is what happened. In 2016, he invested several thousand US dollars in bitcoins, and eventually began reaping the profits as their value increased. Following the advice of experts he employed, Mark decided to keep all of his cryptocurrency in a hardware wallet, which he purchased for $100.

In order to better protect his coins, he came up with a PIN code as well as a 24-word password for restoring access to the funds in case that became necessary. Mark wrote down all this information on a sheet of paper, which ended up thrown away by overzealous cleaning staff.

At first, the hardware wallet owner was not alarmed, but eventually, he realized that he could not remember his PIN. First, he tried to recall it on his own, and then contacted the customer service of the hardware wallet provider. He even enlisted hypnotists, hoping that they could help him recall the code.

Ultimately, the story had a happy ending: a fifteen-year-old hacker and expert in hardware wallet design was the one who helped Mark. He found a way to restore Mark’s access.