The Bitcoin Heroes of Our Time
The bitcoin heroes of our time may not wear capes, they may not even have much money. But they did shape how the market exists today.
For many new investors, bitcoin doesn’t really represent a ‘get rich, quick’ scheme. Inside, it more and more resembles a stable asset that is an excellent hedge to many traditional markets and investments. While the market value is arguably volatile enough to make small, but decent gains give a HODL attitude.
Most new investors use helpful first-time exchange platforms like Bitvavo, not just so they can enjoy a bit of security with their investments, but also so they can easily learn about the underlying technology and tangential markets that might also be worth investing in. But it took a good long while to really establish bitcoin as this type of market, and many people did get rich in the process. Of those, most of them are still interacting with the market to this day.
Erik Finman
Finman, fairly sick of routine education programs, decided at the tender age of 12 that he wanted to take flight from the standard structure of highschool leading into college, becoming a career. He struck a deal with his parents, where he said that if he could turn $1,000 into $1 million, just by making savvy investments. His parents readily agreed, not really believing that this was possible.
Back in 2011, when bitcoin was merely $12 per coin, Finman invested nearly the full thousand into the digital coin, with a few satellite investments in other types of crypto, like Ether. He was so sure that cryptocurrency was the future of fiat, that the young man made no investments outside of the crypto sphere. By the age of 18, Finman had become a self-made millionaire and has continued to involve himself in the crypto world.
Satoshi Nakamoto
It would be impossible to talk about the heroes of bitcoin and not mention Satoshi Nakamoto. The founding father (?) of bitcoin itself. The only problem is, it’s a bit hard to talk about Nakamoto, as no one actually knows who he, she, or they are. Releasing the coin’s white paper in 2009, Nakamoto retired from the community a few short years later, though keeping their coin. Many theories exist about who Nakamoto could be, with many of them centered around the idea that it’s actually a group of people- not just one. Other theories insist Nakamoto is one of the world’s most prolific conmen, or that he was forced out of the game by the CIA. Others think he’s dead. Regardless of who it is, or where they might stand now, one thing is for certain- without them, the world would be a very different place.
Jeremy Gardner
During a fluke conversation with a friend in 2013, Gardner’s friend ended up purchasing bitcoin for him in exchange for some cash. As Gardner had been following the coins curious, and often contentious, media hype- he was intrigued and figured he had the cash to lose. Watching market fluctuations closely, he created a day trading system that both generated an income and boosted bitcoin. By changing gains into cash and making small reinvestments as markets dropped. In 2014, he founded the Blockchain Education Network, fast becoming a believer in what the technology could offer future generations.
Kristoffer Koch
Koch (no relation), a Norwegian electrical engineer, bought $27 dollars worth of bitcoin in 2010. Initially intrigued in Nakamoto’s white paper, released in 2008, Koch decided to buy a “small amount” out of sheer interest in cryptography. That small amount, just twenty-seven American dollars worth, would translate into about 5,600 BTC in 2010. Yes, you read that correctly. Koch had all but forgotten about his investment, in 2013, when prices had increased exponentially. Selling off just one-fifth of his initial investment, Koch was able to declare himself a self-made millionaire by age 28. To this day he still has a few coins in the market and enjoys watching them flourish.
Kingsley Advani
In 2012, British data scientist Kingsley Advani sold off everything he owned and cleaned out his savings account. Why? To invest it all in Bitcoin. With an initial investment of $34,000 Advani was able to turn that into a seven-figure investment in a little over six months. Since that time, Advani has been continuing to invest in crypto-related technologies and startups, hoping to continue the legacy and further impress upon the world the importance of blockchain technology.
Laszlo Hanyecz
One of the most heart wrenching and possibly crushing stories of bitcoin heroes, Laszlo Hanyecz has been credited with being the first person in the world to show the transactional possibilities of bitcoin. In 2010, bitcoin was barely a year old, and in desperate need of real-life case use. Laszlo, an American software developer believed in bitcoin from early on. Hoping to promote the use of the currency, and prove beyond a doubt that the technology could indeed be used in everyday transactions, by everyday people, Hanyecz decided to purchase two pizzas with the coin. In 2010, he paid 10,000 BTC, which is worth well over $45 million in today’s market. Becoming not only an eternal punchline but also a genuine godfather of bitcoin. Hanyecz says he has no regrets, saying “It was a really interesting system but nobody’s using it, if nobody’s using it, it doesn’t matter if I have it at all.”