Over a decade ago, a man lost the equivalent of $26 billion in Bitcoin after the market crashed.
There are some nightmare tales of people having lost or traded their Bitcoin only to discover years down the line they’ve lost out on a fortune they could only dream of.
We all know Laszlo Hanyecz’s story, the Florida man who bought two pizzas using 10,000 Bitcoins back in 2010 – the equivalent of $1,037,902,000 – making each of them worth $512,412,500 today.
Speaking to 60 Minutes correspondent Anderson Cooper during his first TV interview, Hanyecz revealed his reasoning for doing so.
He said: “I honestly thought it would be really cool if I could say, ‘Hey, I just traded this, you know, open source internet money for a real world good’.”
A year later, a Nebraska man named Kevin Day purchased 259,684 Bitcoins for $2,613 – which, according to Google, is worth $26,952,654,296 in today’s valuation… yes, that’s almost $27 billion.
Kevin Day purchased more than 259,000 Bitcoins back in 2011 (Binance)
According to Forbes’ Rich List for 2024, that amount would have made Day the 69th richest person on the planet right now.
The market crash
On June 19, 2011, something weird was going on with the cryptocurrency market – more specifically, Bitcoin.
At the start of the day one Bitcoin was trading for $17.50 but in less than 20 minutes the market had crashed to just one cent per Bitcoin.
While people were in shock at what had happened, Day leapt on the opportunity to purchase as many Bitcoins as he possibly could – he had $3,000 in his crypto wallet from previous trades.
Kevin Day’s Bitcoin transaction
Aware that people would bid the standard one cent for the Bitcoin he decided to bid for the lot at $0.0101 per Bitcoin so that the system would favor his transaction when accepting people’s offers.
Day managed to withdraw 643 Bitcoins (Getty Stock Image)
He came away with 259,684 Bitcoins but he quickly realized that the reason for the crash was due to someone hacking the Mt. Gox – the exchange server for Bitcoin.
The culprit had hacked into people’s Bitcoin accounts and sold off all their coins.
Day tried to withdraw all the Bitcoins he had in his account but was unable to – instead, he managed to withdraw 643 Bitcoins, which today is the equivalent of $66 million.
The outcome
To rectify the hack, Mt. Gox decided to roll back all the trades made during the crash.
It meant the exchange erased his trade for the bizarre reason that the server was hacked – but they didn’t come after him for the 643 Bitcoins.
It meant that Day lost out on 259,041 Bitcoins at a value in today’s market of more than $26 billion.
Man made most expensive pizza order in history after using $1,000,000,000 worth of Bitcoin to pay for two pizzas
It took four days before someone took up Laszlo Hanyecz’s offer of trading 10,000 bitcoins for any two large pizza
I don’t think I could ever live with myself if I spent the equivalent of more than $1 billion on pizza – but that’s exactly what one man did more than a decade ago.
Laszlo Hanyecz is the Florida man who bought two pizzas using 10,000 bitcoins – but his reason for doing so is actually pretty epic, although I’m sure he won’t see it that way anymore.
On May 18, 2010, Hanyecz made history as he took to a Bitcoin Forum to write: “I’ll pay 10,000 bitcoins for a couple of pizzas … like maybe 2 large ones so I have some left over for the next day.
“I like having left over pizza to nibble on later. You can make the pizza yourself and bring it to my house or order it for me from a delivery place, but what I’m aiming for is getting food delivered in exchange for bitcoins where I don’t have to order or prepare it myself, kind of like ordering a ‘breakfast platter’ at a hotel or something, they just bring you something to eat and you’re happy!”
“I like things like onions, peppers, sausages, mushrooms, tomatoes, pepperoni, etc… just standard stuff no weird fish topping or anything like that. I also like regular cheese pizzas which may be cheaper to prepare or otherwise acquire.
“If you’re interested please let me know and we can work out a deal. Thanks, Laszio.”
Laszlo Hanyecz offered 10,000 bitcoins for two pizzas back in 2010 (Getty Stock Image)
You’ve got to give it to him, he knew what he wanted.
It took four days for someone to take him up on the deal – a British man who ordered Hanyecz two Papa John’s pizzas for $25 – and even then, it was a bargain as 10,000 bitcoins held the value of $41.
Just nine months later, the currency matched that of the US dollar – meaning that those 10,000 bitcoins cost $10,000.
Following the successful transaction, Hanyecz took to the platform to write: “I just want to report that I successfully traded 10,000 bitcoins for pizza.”
He included a picture of him and his two sons with the two large pizzas, adding ‘thanks jercos’.
10,000 bitcoins is worth a hell of a lot in today’s currency (60 Minutes/CBS)
But what was the epic reason for doing so then?
Speaking to 60 Minutes correspondent Anderson Cooper during his first TV interview, he said: “I honestly thought it would be really cool if I could say, ‘Hey, I just traded this, you know, open source internet money for a real world good.”
It was one of the first ever transactions for a physical object using bitcoin.
The current value of 10,000 bitcoins is $1,024,825,000 – making each of those pizzas worth $512,412,500 today.
The IT engineer says 8,000 Bitcoins were stored on a hard drive which a former partner accidentally threw out in 2013.
After realizing the mistake, Howells rushed to contact the council and explain the situation, alas, the council refused to let him go to the landfill site in search of the drive.
Howells resolved to sue the council for $648 million and went about coming up with a plan to find where the hard drive lay in the site, a battle having continued for over 10 years.
A spokesperson for Newport Council said the council told Howells ‘multiple times’ an excavation is ‘not possible under our environmental permit and that work of that nature would have a huge negative environmental impact on the surrounding area’.
It added it’s the ‘only body authorised to carry out operations on the site’ and ‘follows a strict monitoring and reporting regime for all environmental parameters’.
However, Howells has since argued he’s been able to ‘pinpoint’ a pretty accurate location of where the hard drive should be.
James Howells’ team argues it’s not a ‘needle-in-the-haystack’ situation (Getty Stock Image)
At a hearing – to decide whether the case should go to a full trial – in Cardiff civil and family court, Howells’ legal team argued all it would take to get the hard drive back is actually a ‘precise excavation’ of a ‘small area’ of the landfill site and that the area has been positively identified.
They added: “This is a finely tuned plan by expert excavators.”
Howells also reportedly hired NASA data recovery engineers alongside using AI in his bid to locate the device.
Prior to the hearing, a spokesperson for Newport Council said: “Responding to Mr Howells’ baseless claims are costing the council and Newport taxpayers time and money which could be better spent on delivering services.”
However, Howells has resolved: “I could spend the rest of my life working nine-to-five and thinking about it every day. I might as well spend my time trying to recover this simple piece of metal.”
UNILAD has contacted Newport City Council for comment.
Man tracking Bitcoin prices posts eerily similar video of it reaching ‘highest price’ 11 years apart
It just goes to show that good things come to those who wait
A guy has been dubbed a ‘legend’ for recreating a viral video from 11 years ago.
Back in 2013, Isaac Miller took to YouTube to celebrate Bitcoin hitting a new high of $100 at market summary, four years on from the cryptocurrency being launched.
There’s limited data about Bitcoin about its first year, but it’s said that by 2010, it was worth $0.40 per coin.
Fast forward to June 2011, and it hit almost $30, BankRate reports, which seemed somewhat impossible.
It quickly crashed though and finished the year at $4.20.
It was in April 2013 that it hit new highs and surpassed $100 – a moment Isaac documented in a video.
“I’m right here, watching history be made,” he said in the 11-year-old clip.
“Bitcoin is now up to $111. It’s an all time high and it’s continuing to rise.
“I’ve seen it break three times today and it went up to $110, and this is the highest that its been. It’s ridiculous.”
And Isaac, an original Bitcoin investor, was right when he said it was continuing to rise as just a few days later it peaked at $230.
But these figures are now pocket change for those who have held onto their Bitcoin cryptocurrency over the years as it recently hit a whopping $100,000.
To mark the momentous occasion, Isaac reenacted his viral video almost word-for-word, but said $100,000 instead of $110.
The original clip has garnered more than 5.5 million views in the three years since it was posted to YouTube.
How did you do this so perfectly?! @Coinbase x.com/coinbase/statu…
$100K. 11 years later. @IsaacMiller
Isaac posted the video on Thursday (December 5) and in the last 48 hours, the price of Bitcoin has marginally dropped.
At the time of writing, Bitcoin’s market summary is at just over $99,750.
People have since reacted to Isaac’s new video, and it’s safe to say people are loving it – particularly when it’s shown side-by-side with his 2013 clip.
“From $100 to $100k. What a legend,” one person said.
Another added: “Lmao classic, at least I was here for this one. See yall at $1,000,000!”
A third went on: “History in the making! Let’s come back here when we hit 250K, 500k and 1 million!”
Isaac showed viewers how Bitcoin had hit $100,000 (Isaac Miller/YouTube)
While it seems like a hefty figure to achieve, some financial experts have predicted that Bitcoin could be worth an eye-watering $1.5 million by 2030.
As per Fortune, last year Ark Invest made its hopes clear about the cryptocurrency and even said that it ‘could be the most compelling monetary asset since gold’.
Part of its 2023 report read: “We believe Bitcoin’s long-term opportunity is strengthening.
“Despite a turbulent year, Bitcoin has not skipped a beat. Its network fundamentals have strengthened and its holder base has become more long-term focused. Contagion caused by centralized counterparties has elevated Bitcoin’s value propositions: decentralization, auditability, and transparency.
“The price of one Bitcoin could exceed $1 million in the next decade.”
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Featured Image Credit: Twitter/IsaacMiller
Topics: Bitcoin, Cryptocurrency, Money, Viral, Nostalgia, Social Media
Niamh Shackleton
Hackers offer solution for man who has two more password attempts to access over $350 million of Bitcoin before it’s lost
He lost a piece of paper containing the password for his hard drive a decade ago
Stefan Thomas would be sitting on a cool $240 million if he hadn’t forgotten his password, but hackers might have the solution he’s been looking for.
In 2011, San Francisco-based Stefan Thomas uploaded an animated video to YouTube titled ‘What Is Bitcoin’ for a Bitcoin enthusiast in Switzerland.
He was paid 7,002 Bitcoins for making the short one-minute clip.
Today, with the value of Bitcoins having sky-rocketed, and his collection now would worth a staggering $350 million. Not bad for a one-minute animated video, right?
But Stefan has a pretty big problem.
The German-born computer programmer lost the piece of paper containing the password to the encrypted IronKey hard drive where the Bitcoin is kept a decade ago and has been unable to access the account ever since.
Now, Thomas faces losing his fortune forever.
You see, this hard drive isn’t your standard piece of tech.
It’s so secure that it gives whoever is trying to access it just 10 guesses to figure out the password before it basically self-destructs, making the contents inaccessible to anyone – even its rightful owner.
X/Stefan Thomas
Since the value of Bitcoin skyrocketed, Thomas has attempted to access the hard drive in various different ways, unsuccessfully using up eight of his 10 attempts.
The programmer now has just two guesses left before his fortune is lost forever.
But he’s not the only person trying to get into the hard drive.
Groups of cybersecurity experts tempted by the possibility of hacking the wallet have also been attempting to figure out how to break into it.
And one claims to have found a solution.
Pexels
Unciphered, a firm that specializes in recovering lost cryptocurrency, say they have found a way to crack into decade-old IronKey hard drives.
They demonstrated the method with Wired journalist, Andy Greenberg, who set a password and had it messaged to him the following day.
But, despite the large fortune at stake, Thomas isn’t interested, for now at least.
When Unciphered reached out to him with their method, he declined their help due to agreements he has with other teams who are also looking for solutions.
Speaking to Wired, Thomas said: “I have already been working with a different set of experts on the recovery so I’m no longer free to negotiate with someone new.
“It’s possible that the current team could decide to subcontract Unciphered if they feel that’s the best option. We’ll have to wait and see.”
Featured Image Credit: X/@stefanthomas / Chesnot/Getty Images
Topics: Money, Cryptocurrency, Bitcoin, Technology, News
