30,000 Bitcoins Sold for $0.03 Each, Now Valued at $800 Million

In the evolving Bitcoin market, stories of missed opportunities and astonishing deals abound – however, few are as eye-popping as this sale from August 30, 2010.

Unearthed by Bitcoin historian Pete Rizzo, a BitcoinTalk thread shows how an early Bitcoin user amassed 30,000 BTC, only to sell them for $0.03 each.

Then sold below market price, roughly $0.06 at the time, the sale netted $900. The same amount of Bitcoin, if sold today, would be worth over $810,000,000.

While few could have predicted the meteoric rise of Bitcoin to $27,000 in the years to come, it seems the seller in this case might have been motivated by an interest in disproving that the cryptocurrency would work at all.

Though there is only speculation in the thread, it shows that market participants at the time believed the seller to be William “Nenolod” Pitcock, a data center employee who is said to have amassed close to 100,000 BTC that he liquidated in 2010.

Speaking about another sale in July, he discussed his motivation was to spark a “bank rush,” writing: “The purpose was to demonstrate in two ways that the Bitcoin system can be attacked… [and] cause speculation in the bitcoin economy.”

While no connection between the events can be substantiated, the thread, buried in the archives of an early Bitcoin user forum, serves as a time capsule, transporting readers back to a moment when the true potential of Bitcoin was still shrouded in uncertainty.

While some may view it as a painful reminder of missed opportunities, others see it as a testament to the enduring allure that Bitcoin has created over the years.

Either wary, thanks to the sale, some lucky Bitcoiners were able to get bids filled at once-in-a-lifetime prices.

30 August 2023 14:45