6 ms·

Norwegian student buys $27 in bitcoin in 2009, now owns an apartment

53 points by Sealy 13y ago

helpfulElf 13y ago
Crowd funding sites should leap on this story; that's the dream..
- kilovoltaire 13y ago
  I might be missing something—how is this related to crowd funding?
  - logn 13y ago
    Buy stock low, sell it high? It's all gambling. Sometimes you know you can beat the game. Sometimes it's for fun. People shouldn't get depressed when they miss a wacky investment that pays off big. Plenty of people lose their shirts doing that.
    - Sealy 13y ago
      The article mentions that exactly, "He bought some for fun, then forgot about it." Fair play to him for doing so! I guess he must have been in luck when the topic for his thesis lead him to Bitcoin. I bet he's glad he studied!
  - helpfulElf 13y ago
    I had read that ~$300 investments may become mainstream; with such an investment, the investor is probably hoping for an equivalent outcome.
deleted 13y ago
[deleted]
- humbledrone 13y ago
  > Of course in hindsight it sounds like a great investment. But this stuff is highly volatile and not backed by anything. I'm not rushing to convert my bank account to bitcoin yet. It's backed by math and computational complexity, which is decidedly not "nothing." If, as you say, it is backed by nothing, go ahead and forge some Bitcoins. Except, of course, you cannot forge them. You can only create them via the investment of hardware, electricity, time, and luck. It's not like gold is actually worth $1,500 an ounce due to its value in making jewelry or in manufacturing. The value of gold is set by the speculative market, just like Bitcoin. Of course, you're right that it's volatile. But that has nothing to do with its "backing" and everything to do with the fact that 99% of the world has no idea what the hell to make of it yet. That, and the fact that there has never been a decentralized digital currency before, so nobody knows what's going to happen.
  - asveikau 13y ago
    I deleted my comment because I concluded it's obvious and contributes nothing to the conversation. But since you replied I will say: Yes it is backed by nothing. There is no central bank. It's funny that you draw comparisons to gold's lack of intrinsic value because the whole point of central banking is to move away from storing shiny objects in vaults, and in that regard Bitcoin is a regression. (Replace shiny objects with shiny prime numbers.)
    - drcode 13y ago
      > There is no central bank. OK, let's suppose for some reason there is a sudden inflation of the US dollar... Please, asveikau, can you explain a single precise example of what the "central bank" can do to help in this case that causes a net improvement? Will they invent an "un-printing press"? Will they get people to turn in the excess dollars by exchanging them with gold? Please, asveikau, explain what it is that a central bank can do in this situation that justifies its existence.
      - humbledrone 13y ago
christopherryan 13y ago
GOSPEL ARTIST POSES NUDE! Evon Latrail is the author of a children's book "When Mommy Went to Heaven". She wrote/recorded a few songs; "Lord Bless My Enemies. And, even has a song entitled, "Can't You See (Abortion Is Murder). She went Pro-life after having a abortion! Really???? Now here is a photo of her posing in chocolate as a "Swamp Girl". The word Hypocrite is floating around somewhere. This story has made front page news in the local paper. Go to Google or YouTube and search, Evon Latrail.
tedunangst 13y ago
Well that settles it. I'm sold. Just bought myself a bitcoin. Looking forward to moving into my new house in 2017.
mendelsd 13y ago
This guy's approach reminds me of Taleb's barbell strategy of investment: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nassim_Nicholas_Taleb#Philosophical_theories http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nassim_Nicholas_Taleb#Philosoph... (described more thoroughly in his 'Black Swan' book). Basically: put ~90% of your money into stuff that's as safe as can be, and put the rest into highly speculative bets with a large upside.
- sireat 13y ago
  The buyer actually was not investing in the sense Taleb describes. The buyer was simply lucky enough to be studying cryptography in 2009 (not in <2007 or 2011>) and saw a cool new approach. He did not buy with the intention of huge upside else he would have taken a more prudent approach to securing his coins. How many had heard of bitcoin until the first slashdot article or first reddit appearance? How many missed those and only heard about it when the first newspaper articles appeared? Unless you were lucky enough to be following certain cryptography related mailing lists, chances of you coming accross bitcoin were close to nil until 2010.

53 points by Sealy 13y ago

helpfulElf 13y ago

Crowd funding sites should leap on this story; that's the dream..

kilovoltaire 13y ago
I might be missing something—how is this related to crowd funding?
- logn 13y ago
  Buy stock low, sell it high? It's all gambling. Sometimes you know you can beat the game. Sometimes it's for fun. People shouldn't get depressed when they miss a wacky investment that pays off big. Plenty of people lose their shirts doing that.
  - Sealy 13y ago
    The article mentions that exactly, "He bought some for fun, then forgot about it." Fair play to him for doing so! I guess he must have been in luck when the topic for his thesis lead him to Bitcoin. I bet he's glad he studied!
- helpfulElf 13y ago
  I had read that ~$300 investments may become mainstream; with such an investment, the investor is probably hoping for an equivalent outcome.

deleted 13y ago

[deleted]

humbledrone 13y ago
> Of course in hindsight it sounds like a great investment. But this stuff is highly volatile and not backed by anything. I'm not rushing to convert my bank account to bitcoin yet. It's backed by math and computational complexity, which is decidedly not "nothing." If, as you say, it is backed by nothing, go ahead and forge some Bitcoins. Except, of course, you cannot forge them. You can only create them via the investment of hardware, electricity, time, and luck. It's not like gold is actually worth $1,500 an ounce due to its value in making jewelry or in manufacturing. The value of gold is set by the speculative market, just like Bitcoin. Of course, you're right that it's volatile. But that has nothing to do with its "backing" and everything to do with the fact that 99% of the world has no idea what the hell to make of it yet. That, and the fact that there has never been a decentralized digital currency before, so nobody knows what's going to happen.
- asveikau 13y ago
  I deleted my comment because I concluded it's obvious and contributes nothing to the conversation. But since you replied I will say: Yes it is backed by nothing. There is no central bank. It's funny that you draw comparisons to gold's lack of intrinsic value because the whole point of central banking is to move away from storing shiny objects in vaults, and in that regard Bitcoin is a regression. (Replace shiny objects with shiny prime numbers.)
  - drcode 13y ago
    > There is no central bank. OK, let's suppose for some reason there is a sudden inflation of the US dollar... Please, asveikau, can you explain a single precise example of what the "central bank" can do to help in this case that causes a net improvement? Will they invent an "un-printing press"? Will they get people to turn in the excess dollars by exchanging them with gold? Please, asveikau, explain what it is that a central bank can do in this situation that justifies its existence.
    - humbledrone 13y ago

christopherryan 13y ago

GOSPEL ARTIST POSES NUDE! Evon Latrail is the author of a children's book "When Mommy Went to Heaven". She wrote/recorded a few songs; "Lord Bless My Enemies. And, even has a song entitled, "Can't You See (Abortion Is Murder). She went Pro-life after having a abortion! Really???? Now here is a photo of her posing in chocolate as a "Swamp Girl". The word Hypocrite is floating around somewhere. This story has made front page news in the local paper. Go to Google or YouTube and search, Evon Latrail.

tedunangst 13y ago

Well that settles it. I'm sold. Just bought myself a bitcoin. Looking forward to moving into my new house in 2017.

mendelsd 13y ago

This guy's approach reminds me of Taleb's barbell strategy of investment: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nassim_Nicholas_Taleb#Philosophical_theories http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nassim_Nicholas_Taleb#Philosoph... (described more thoroughly in his 'Black Swan' book). Basically: put ~90% of your money into stuff that's as safe as can be, and put the rest into highly speculative bets with a large upside.

sireat 13y ago
The buyer actually was not investing in the sense Taleb describes. The buyer was simply lucky enough to be studying cryptography in 2009 (not in <2007 or 2011>) and saw a cool new approach. He did not buy with the intention of huge upside else he would have taken a more prudent approach to securing his coins. How many had heard of bitcoin until the first slashdot article or first reddit appearance? How many missed those and only heard about it when the first newspaper articles appeared? Unless you were lucky enough to be following certain cryptography related mailing lists, chances of you coming accross bitcoin were close to nil until 2010.