The early bird catches the biggest worms. This is generally the image that the crypto industry has of Bitcoin (BTC). With a return of almost 70 million percent, the first and largest cryptocurrency was the origin of many Bitcoin millionaires. For the Dutchman David Lemereis, however, everything went a little differently. Unfortunately, little remained of his “winning” of 2.5 million euros.
Dutch student buys 83 Bitcoins for €600
In a fun mood, the then student Lemereis bought Bitcoins worth 600 euros. That was in June 2011, when a Bitcoin was still being sold for less than 20 euros. Lemereis can’t remember exactly what happened back then. According to technology product tester RTL Nieuws, he owned about 83 Bitcoins at the time. This corresponds to a purchase price of €7.23.
A portfolio with 83 Bitcoin would be worth $3.3 million today. Lemereis’s comments on this were surprisingly down-to-earth, but little came of it. Things initially went well for the student: the Bitcoin price rose sharply to a value of 30 euros. The Bitcoin enthusiast announced the quadrupling of his investment to anyone who would listen.
Shortly after, things went wrong; Bitcoin crashed, causing significant panic. To minimize the damage, Lemereis sold almost half. After a few months, the student still had 45 Bitcoins with a measly value of $2 each. Just a few months later, Lemereis’ portfolio was reduced to just 19 Bitcoin. “But isn’t that still worth a lot?“ would be the reaction of many. Unfortunately, the bad luck didn’t stop there.
Crypto exchange Mt.Gox files for bankruptcy
Great successes were achieved again in 2013. The price of Bitcoin rose to the astronomical value of $1,242, which corresponded to a profit of $20,000. What Lemereis himself also makes clear is that he “actually doesn’t deserve anything.” After all, selling Bitcoins makes a profit, which Lemereis didn’t do at the time.
To make matters worse, the crypto exchange Mt.Gox, where Lemereis stored his Bitcoins, went bankrupt in 2014 after a massive hack. The 19.3457 BTC that the early investor still owned at the time were among the missing funds. Today, those Bitcoins would be worth $830,000 if he got them back.
Despite setbacks, still a “win”.
However, due to the company’s bankruptcy, Lemereis will only receive $7,000 if he is ever paid back. The Mt.Gox founders walk away with the remaining $823,000 even though their company is bankrupt. They also hold the Bitcoin hard forks that Lemereis would have received.
Lemereis himself says he’s not too worried about it. His adventure still brings him a profit: he still has 0.17139 BTC left. It is unknown if he has already sold it, but in his case it would certainly have been wise. If he had, it would have netted him a nice profit of $1,400.
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