In 2011, a man from Nebraska named Kevin Day acquired 259,684 Bitcoins for $2,613. Today, that amount is valued at approximately $26,952,654,296 according to Google, nearing a staggering $27 billion.
Based on Forbes’ Rich List for 2024, that sum could have placed Day as the 69th wealthiest individual globally.
On June 19, 2011, the cryptocurrency market, particularly Bitcoin, experienced unusual activity.
Bitcoin started the day trading at $17.50, but within under 20 minutes, it plummeted to just one cent.
Amidst the confusion, Day seized the chance to buy as many Bitcoins as he could, having $3,000 in his crypto account from past deals.
Knowing others would bid the typical one cent per Bitcoin, he offered $0.0101 per Bitcoin to ensure the system would prioritize his bid over others.
He secured 259,684 Bitcoins but soon found out that a hacker had targeted Mt. Gox, the Bitcoin exchange server.
The hacker had accessed users’ Bitcoin accounts and liquidated their holdings.
Day attempted to withdraw all the Bitcoins he had acquired, but was only able to secure 643 of them, which today is equal to $66 million.
Mt. Gox decided to reverse all trades from the crash to address the hack.
This rollback meant his transaction was nullified due to the breach, although they did not reclaim the 643 Bitcoins he had withdrawn.
As a result, Day lost 259,041 Bitcoins, which are now worth over $26 billion in the current market.
