When Bitcoin Was Eleven Cents

I know I know what y’all gonna say. Give us a break you Bitcoin ignorant bald eagle; we’ve heard the same old story a thousand times. I heard it too. And, I ain’t talking about Bitcoin Pizza Day. The rumor has it that back in the early days, there were people who said no to Bitcoin at some presentation for FREE!

Here’s the thing. It feels completely different to read about these stories and actually hear one first-hand in person. I can tell you; it can be very unpleasant and even painful.

So, my story goes, this time of the year, I’m done with the summer carpet cleaning job, and looking for something else more warm and secure to get me through the winter. You know, carpet cleaning by day, stories writing by night.

So, here I am, at my latest but not last job interview. How do you feel about a delivery job? What can you tell me about your driving skills? You know me; I’m honest to the bone.

I dunno why my never-to-be-boss hadn’t shown me the door right away. Maybe he just wanted to kill some time before talking to the next candidate or maybe he found me interesting. Never mind. Moving on with my story.

It turned out, he was quite a character. He used to live and work in Australia. You know how it goes. He married a lovely Oz lady and ran a successful business. Life was good for his family with two boys. He was also passionate about investing. The oil was his thing. Nowadays, $10K for investing may not seem as much, despite the economic sh*tstorm, but more than 10 years ago, it was a respectable amount of money.

So, one fine day, he clearly remembers it was Friday, his broker had a brilliant idea to switch to corn for a change. He wanted to stick to oil, but this silver tongue broker convinced him somehow to forget about the liquid gold for a moment. Later that day, the news broke out that the price of corn would go down. But, it was too late. He had a miserable weekend. On Monday morning, he’d lost half of his money.

What to do with the remaining $5K? The hero of this story had also a thing for tech and innovation. Because the Internet wasn’t still the thing back then as it is now, he was going through some magazines at home. He stumbled upon an article about this new thing called Bitcoin, which he found to be very interesting. He would never forget that the price was, at that time, ELEVEN CENTS.

So, he was thinking out loud.

What if I invest one thousand dollars in Bitcoin?!

His wife heard him.

After you just lost five thousand dollars, do you want to lose one thousand more?

But, honey, it’s not that much, and look at the price, it’s only eleven cents.

You’d think this was the moment where both of our stories end, but little did they know, it was only the beginning of a new chapter in their lives.

Elysium “Med-Bay” Made in Serbia

I told you already that this intriguing guy was a tech enthusiast. Fast forward a few years, he moved his entire family back to Belgrade, Serbia. This picture is worth a couple of thousand miles, give it or take.

Here comes the tricky part, but I’m going to simplify it as much as possible.

Have you seen the movie Elysium? Definitely not the finest product by director Neill Blomkamp compared to “District 9” and “Chappie,” but worth watching. The most interesting Elysium’s “gadget” is the so-called Med-Bay. It looks like a solarium (tanning) bed, but it’s not supposed to improve your looks. It’s all about improving your overall health.

Mr. M was a tech startup entrepreneur before this term was even invented. As you can imagine, it’s been a road full of thorns and spikes. Production. Certification. Bureaucracy. COVID. You name it, he got hit by it.

He wasn’t giving up but at a high cost. They had to sell their house in Australia. He got stuck after spending more than $2.5M! The vans used for making his dreams come true are now a part of delivery business plan B. Yeah, it’s heartbreaking.

I showed him my latest Bitcoin story. He liked it. Then, we had that “what if” moment.

How many Bitcoins he could’ve bought for a thousand dollars when the price was eleven cents? How much money he would’ve had today at his disposal?

Well, does it hurt like hell?

Stupid people ask stupid questions. I was like, what about China? Is there a way out?

China 2.0 - Tech on Steroids

Things have changed, my friend. By the time I somehow managed to catch my breath after I don’t know how many years, guess what? I was all ears. The Chinese flooded the market with a similar product for half the price.

Then, he shared a story about a fellow entrepreneur who was more lucky. Here comes the part of my story you have to read without prejudice because it backfires big time.

His friend took a prototype and made a few calls to China. He didn’t go there, they came to him. There was an entire team of dozens of engineers. All of them with the tech degrees from the USA, Australia, or Canada. His friend was straightforward. So, what do you think? How long it’s going to take for you to make me more of this? The Chinese team just took a prototype and left, without a word. A few days later, they came back with two devices. His friend couldn’t tell the difference between his original prototype and the “made in China” model.

Various articles in the popular media, speeches by policy-makers, and reports to Congress have stated that the United States graduates roughly 70,000 undergraduate engineers annually, whereas China graduates 600,000 and India 350,000.

I also know this is old news, but it’s worth repeating and remembering:

I wrote a story about Elon Musk’s plans for the city, Terminus, on Mars. I have no problems with Chinese being either the dominant or official language on Mars. Y’all heard that story about the Chinese version of TikTok with completely different content preferences and algorithms for kids compared to the rest of the world, haven’t you?

It was about time for me to hit the road. On my way out, I had to ask. Have you ever said something to your wife about you know what? No. Never. He laughed. She turned out to be my only successful investing choice. We have two beautiful and smart sons. She stood by my side and supported me all these years.

Can I write a story about you? Are you OK with it? Sure. Why not. Send me a link once it’s published, I want to read it with my wife. We both laughed.

On the way to my mortgageous and sadly empty home, I couldn’t stop thinking how little it takes to be at the right time, at the right place, and do the best thing possible. You know how they say, after a battle, everyone is a general.

Well, in 2024, everybody is a Bitcoin wise guy. It’s easy to judge, but it’s hard to predict. I mean, I don’t even know what’s going to happen with our world tomorrow. But still, eleven cents. Oh boy, the crazy unforgettable moments.

This one goes to all bald eagles out there regardless of how much they know about Bitcoin: Disturbed - The Sound Of Silence.