The lucky ones and losers in the bitcoin world: 7 stories from 2017

    Cryptocurrencies is a dynamic sphere that has expanded greatly over the past three years. Thus, the capitalization of the crypto market, according to CoinMarketCap, now amounts to $ 682 billion. The capitalization of the title cryptocurrency - Bitcoin - is $ 232 billion. The rapid growth of the exchange rate of cryptocurrency has attracted a large number of new players to this area. Someone was lucky to get rich, while others lost their money. It is about such lucky and losers will be discussed.

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    Anonymous, who became a bitcoin millionaire


    Some success stories related to enrichment on a crypto market are published by anonymous users on Reddit and Steemit. One of these anonymous users spoke about the purchase of 12,000 bitcoins in 2010. He did not spend them pizza on them, as a programmer named Laszlo did in 2010, which is still remembered on various resources. For several years, he simply forgot about his purchase: he briefly heard that the cost of Bitcoin had risen to $ 100 per coin, but due to a number of reasons he simply could not pay enough attention to cryptocurrency. Nevertheless, he saved the data from his wallet. When the rate of Bitcoin in 2017 began to grow rapidly, he remembered his Bitcoins, the market value of which is now equal to about $ 10 million.

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    Anonymous managed to keep himself in his hands and did not rush headlong, change everything and everyone. Now he sells bitcoins in small portions, so as not to attract attention. Moreover, he is not going to radically change his lifestyle, continues to work, simultaneously engaging in investment activities.

    Erik Fineman (Erik Fineman)


    Faynmen was only 11 years old when he began to invest in Bitcoin. It is clear that the boy did not have his money yet, so he took advantage of the gift of his grandmother, who handed $ 1000 to the future millionaire. In this case, advice on how to manage the money, gave Eric his brother. In 2011, one Bitcoin cost about $ 12 at the rate. In 2013, he began selling the first coins, then the rate rose to $ 1,200.

    Already in 2013, Fayneman made out of $ 1,000 as much as $ 100,000 , on which he founded an educational startup in 2014. Things went well, and Faynman soon moved to Silicon Valley, traveled the world with lectures and arranged with his parents that if he could earn a million dollars by the age of 18, he would not go to university.

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    In January 2015, Fineman received an offer to purchase his company for $ 100,000. He was also offered 300 Bitcoins as an alternative to Fiat. Without thinking, he chose the bitcoins. Continuing to establish and develop all sorts of businesses, he still became a millionaire by the age of 18 and did not go to university.

    Jeremy Gardner (Jeremy Gardner)


    Like Fineman, Jeremy Gardner was one of the first to start believing in Bitcoin, and not only to believe, but also to invest money in it. As a result, he managed to get rich. True, not because he kept the accumulated, but then suddenly he sold everything and became a millionaire. No, Gardner was also helped by a business sense. He invested money in various projects related to cryptocurrency, and many of them brought him good dividends. Now Gardner, in his own words, is the holder of an extensive investment portfolio that allows him to feel very good even in the case when the course of Bitcoin is going down.

    Mr. Smith


    Another anonymous network user told the story of how he was able to become a millionaire thanks to bitcoins. There were no special business ideas and projects. Mr. Smith just bought a lot of bitcoins in 2010, after which he forgot about them for several years.

    In 2013, when the rate of Bitcoin increased significantly, Smith began selling his coins. As a result, the initially invested $ 3,000 turned into $ 25 million. Mr. Smith began to spend money on travel and all sorts of pleasant things to live. About business, as far as can be understood, we are not talking: Comrade Smith just lives on the proceeds from earlier funds.

    On his wallet, however, 1000 bitcoins are still stored, which he plans to sell no sooner than their rate will rise again to $ 15,000.

    Olaf Carlson-Wu (Olaf Carlson-Wee)


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    This bitcoin millionaire began to believe in cryptocurrency as soon as he found out about it. In 2013, he got a job at a bitcoin startup Coinbase. Then cryptocurrencies have not yet become mainstream, and not many people have heard of Bitcoin at all. But Carlson-Wu heard about Bitcoin and, moreover, invested personal funds in its purchase. In addition, Olaf was able to negotiate with the employer that he would be given wages in Bitcoins instead of Fiat. He did not spend everything, put off some of the coins, and as a result became a dollar millionaire after the Bitcoin exchange rate soared above $ 10,000.

    Simon


    Well, this anonymous user (Simon - pseudonym) told a story that can hardly be called positive. He started working with bitcoins in 2011. At the same time, Simon decided to try out the darknet with his marketplaces.

    In one of these places, he found a seller who offered a passport from one of the EU countries for only 10,000 BTC. For another 6000 BTC, the same seller was ready to issue a certificate of a reputable journalist.

    Simon sent the money, but no one was in a hurry to accept it and fulfill the order. The funds remained on the intermediary account of the exchange, and everything seemed to be fine. But after some time, Simon learned that the owner of the exchange was arrested, as a result of which all Bitcoins were blocked on the marketplace wallets. Probably, Simon himself will never get his money back. It remains only to follow the course and calculate how much Fiat could be bought for coins that were inadvertently sent to accounts on the darknet.

    Mark Frauenfelder (Mark Frauenfelder)


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    Mark, you might say, lucky. He could be without his bitcoins because of his own negligence, but he managed to get them back. The fact is that in 2016 he invested several thousand US dollars in Bitcoins, after which, with the growth rate, he began to make a profit. Mark talked with experts, and he was advised to keep his cryptocurrency on a hardware wallet, which was later bought for $ 100.

    In order to better protect his coins, he came up with a pin code, as well as a 24-word password, which is necessary to restore access to funds in case it is necessary. Mark wrote all the data on a sheet of paper. But this sheet turned out to be overly active cleaners.

    Initially, the owner of the hardware wallet did not consider this a problem, but then he realized that he could not remember a pin. At first he tried to remember him himself, then contacted the support service of the company that produces the wallets. He even turned to hypnotists, believing that they would help restore the code.

    In the end, it all ended well . Mark was helped by a 15-year-old hacker. He was well versed in the design of hardware wallets and found a way to regain access.


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