“I quit my job and went traveling the world” — Mr. Smith, anonymous software engineer.
After graduating in 2008, Mr. Smith (not his real name) started working at a typical Silicon Valley tech company. He got along well with his “equally geeky” colleagues.
In 2010, he invested $3,000. With the price of Bitcoin at just 15 US cents at the time, this meant he had almost 20,000 Bitcoins. “I knew from the start that I was playing the long game. I wanted to see how high it could go,” he said.
Mr. Smith had almost forgotten about his investment three years later when it appeared in the news. With the price rising by 10% or more every day, he sold 2,000 coins when the price reached $350. When the price reached 800,$ a few days later, he sold another 2,000 coins. He had already made $2.3 million. “I quit my job and went on a world tour.”
Today, he spends his time traveling the world in luxury. He flies first class to five-star restaurants where he enjoys meals prepared by elite chefs for every meal. In the 30 days before his Forbes interview, he had visited Singapore, New York, Las Vegas, Monaco, Moscow, back to New York, Zurich, and Hong Kong. His net worth is likely between $100 million and $1 billion.
“He talks about Bitcoin constantly,” his girlfriend said. “If he starts talking about it, he’ll never stop. Never.”
