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I'm thinking of how is this any different from your standard "hey I got rich suddenly" situations (startup exit, a large contract as an athlete, etc)? Bitcoins

I'm thinking of how is this any different from your standard "hey I got rich suddenly" situations (startup exit, a large contract as an athlete, etc)? Bitcoins themselves are hard to trace / anonymous, but once they are "out of the system", they will be in a regular financial institution and the situation is analogous to your regular internet millionaire. I guess the thing is that he ows such a large fraction of the Bitcoins out there that he can't conceivable liquidate all his Bitcoins in a reasonable amount of time, thus exposing himself to a certain time period where he is known to have a large sum of Bitcoins that are by nature anonymously transferable to a kidnapper? IMO such threats depend largely on where he lives. If he lives in highly affluent areas, then the typical security precautions and rich neighborhood surroundings used by fellow millionaires should be sufficient protection. There are plenty of "rich people" in the world who get by just fine without being kidnapped. Just wander over to your neighborhood Silicon Valley rich neighborhood, and you'll bump into plenty of 8~10 figure people.

oleganza 14y ago
As time goes by and Bitcoin becomes more widespread, it gets more expensive. Can you imagine a guy today with 5% of economy in wealth? Also, even if it is not economical to steal from him, there is usual level of paranoia that many crypto folks share.
- mcherm 14y ago
  > Can you imagine a guy today with 5% of economy in wealth? Ah, how easy it is to forget history. A few examples from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_wealthiest_historical_figures http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_wealthiest_historical_f... Cornelius Vanderbilt: 1.15% of US GDP John D. Rockefeller: 1.53% of US GDP
  - GFischer 14y ago
    Carlos Slim, 8% of Mexico's GDP. http://theweek.com/article/index/200797/7-things-to-know-about-carlos-slim-helu http://theweek.com/article/index/200797/7-things-to-know-abo... ""it's hard to spend a day in Mexico and not put money in [Slim's] pocket." You can barely make a call without doing so: Slim's phone company Telmex — snapped up on the cheap in 1990 — controls 80 percent of the landlines; its subsidiary América Móvil handles 70 percent of the cell service. " "For Bill Gates to have the same grip on the U.S. economy, says Brian Winter in Foreign Policy, he would have to be worth "909 billion" and own "Alcoa, Phillip Morris, Sears, Best Buy, TGIFriday's, Dunkin' Donuts, Marriott, Citibank, and JetBlue.""
    - Evbn 14y ago
      Wow, that is more that plenty to motivate a socialist revolution.
- Evbn 14y ago
  The units aren't comparable in the sense of wealth. He has $X million, just like Paul Graham.

oleganza 14y ago

As time goes by and Bitcoin becomes more widespread, it gets more expensive. Can you imagine a guy today with 5% of economy in wealth? Also, even if it is not economical to steal from him, there is usual level of paranoia that many crypto folks share.

mcherm 14y ago
> Can you imagine a guy today with 5% of economy in wealth? Ah, how easy it is to forget history. A few examples from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_wealthiest_historical_figures http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_wealthiest_historical_f... Cornelius Vanderbilt: 1.15% of US GDP John D. Rockefeller: 1.53% of US GDP
- GFischer 14y ago
  Carlos Slim, 8% of Mexico's GDP. http://theweek.com/article/index/200797/7-things-to-know-about-carlos-slim-helu http://theweek.com/article/index/200797/7-things-to-know-abo... ""it's hard to spend a day in Mexico and not put money in [Slim's] pocket." You can barely make a call without doing so: Slim's phone company Telmex — snapped up on the cheap in 1990 — controls 80 percent of the landlines; its subsidiary América Móvil handles 70 percent of the cell service. " "For Bill Gates to have the same grip on the U.S. economy, says Brian Winter in Foreign Policy, he would have to be worth "909 billion" and own "Alcoa, Phillip Morris, Sears, Best Buy, TGIFriday's, Dunkin' Donuts, Marriott, Citibank, and JetBlue.""
  - Evbn 14y ago
    Wow, that is more that plenty to motivate a socialist revolution.
Evbn 14y ago
The units aren't comparable in the sense of wealth. He has $X million, just like Paul Graham.