A story of loss and regret or a testimony to the growth and durability of Bitcoin? In the crypto world there are many curious anecdotes, and this is undoubtedly one.
- Did it happen to you that you bought Bitcoin and sold it too early?
- The protagonist of this anecdote sold 30,000 bitcoins at half the price in 2010
- The reason is unknown, but many hypotheses circulated
- Some in the community speculate that he intended to “break” Bitcoin, but he failed to do so.
- Will he regret it 13 years later? Today they would cost several hundred million dollars
Have you ever wished you had bought Bitcoin earlier or not had the patience to hold your position longer? The protagonist of this story may be able to relate.
Knowing how to determine the right times to enter or exit the market is a quality that every cryptocurrency trader wants and aspires to have. It is not the type of talent that you are born with, but rather it seems like one that is acquired through practice. However, at the end of the day, no one is a fortune teller and every experience is a lesson.
Surprising stories of success and loss abound in the world of digital currencies. However, this particular story from more than a decade ago seems especially striking. Bitcoin historian Pete Rizzo banished the story in a tweet this week, and Bitcoin Magazine reviewed it.
Exactly thirteen years and three days ago, on August 30, 2010, an early Bitcoin investor decided to put his stash of 30,000 bitcoins (BTC) up for sale at a fire sale price. It was the early days of the original cryptocurrency, and the asset was only trading for a few cents on the dollar, at USD $0.06 per coin.
However, instead of placing an offer at that price, the unknown user decided to offer his entire huge Bitcoin position at a 50% discount, that is, at a price of just 3 cents per coin. In total, the 30,000 bitcoins were settled for about USD $900, instead of the $1,800 market price at that time.
Although he had no way of predicting the meteoric rise in price of the cryptocurrency, which at its peak in 2021 was valued close to USD $70,000, it seems curious that the trader preferred to liquidate his assets at such a depreciated price compared to market values.
Theories about the Bitcoin auction
The reasons behind the discount are still unknown to this day; although at that time there was no shortage of users who were quick to share their theories about the sale. Some speculated that it could be a big thumb, a small financial pinch, or that it could be stolen or ill-gotten money.
Meanwhile, several comments from participants on the BitcoinTalk forum suggest that the seller may have been motivated by a desire to challenge cryptocurrency advocates and with the explicit intention of destabilizing the market.
Although there is only speculation in the messages, one thread shows that market users believed at the time that the person responsible for the sale was William “Nenolod” Pitcock, a data center employee who is said to have accumulated close to 100,000 BTC and who He liquidated part of his coins in a previous sale with the intention of causing a “ banking rush .”
“The purpose was to demonstrate in two ways that the Bitcoin system can be attacked… [and] provoke speculation in the bitcoin economy,” Pitcock had written about a previous sale in July of that year, as Bitcoin Magazine recalls.
The size of the sale was large enough compared to the still-nascent Bitcoin market to destabilize prices, although the effects appear to have been limited, comments archived in the depths of one of Bitcoin’s earliest user forums suggest. Bitcoin.
Time capsule with a lesson
As for the identity of the seller, the skeptical owner did not confirm that he was responsible and the reasons for the order remained a mystery. However, the anecdote serves as a time capsule of sorts, transporting readers to a time when Bitcoin‘s true potential was still shrouded in uncertainty.
It also serves as a testament to Bitcoin’s growth and durability, as well as a painful reminder of missed opportunities. If the trader had waited until today, he would have generated just over USD $800 million from his bitcoins. Even if he had chosen to half the stash, it would still be several hundred million dollars.
Other Bitcoin sell-off stories have raised eyebrows over the years. A particular liquidation became mythologized in the imagination of crypto culture, when in 2014 an unknown user placed a sell order also for 30,000 BTC, at that time about USD $9 million. At the time, the sale caused a stir among market participants, who worried about the volatility that such an event could generate in prices. They named her Mr. “BearWhale”.
Past stories provide some perspective and seem to renew Bitcoin‘s narrative, showing that its fundamentals remain stronger than ever, while its market has become much more robust.
TBT: Curious look in the rearview mirror
Cryptocurrency culture is full of surprising anecdotes.
This same week also marked 13 years since Satoshi Nakamoto, the pseudonymous creator of Bitcoin, explained the power of his invention in a negative way, as Rizzo recalled in a separate post on X ( Twitter ).
“Imagine that there was a base metal as rare as gold but with the following properties: 1. Boring gray in color 2. It is not a good conductor of electricity 3. It is not especially strong, but it is not flexible or easily malleable either. 4. It is not useful for any practical or ornamental purpose and has a special magical property. It can be transported over a communications channel.”
Monday, August 28, also marked 9 years since the death of one of the pioneers and main contributors to the creation of Bitcoin, Hal Finney, an engineer who defended the technology from its beginnings—he was the first person to run the Bitcoin software. after Nakamoto—and who predicted that Bitcoin would cost $10 million at some point.
A little further back, on August 22, 2008, Adam Back, another key figure in the creation of the cryptocurrency, reviewed the first version of the Bitcoin white paper in an email sent to him by Satoshi Nakamoto.
