On June 1, 2011, Chilean software developer Davinci Jeremie who might be the least-known Bitcoin guru said, “Good morning folks! I want to introduce you to the power of Bitcoins, and I know that you probably didn’t want to hear this on a silver channel but I have to point out its amazing stuff.”
In 2011, he had posted a video on how he had recently come across this new way to transfer something of value when he made a donation to a local author. “I don’t have to pull out my credit card I didn’t have to type in my address, remember my postal code and all the rest of crap,” he said. “It was instant it was fast there’s no middleman transaction taking a cut 3% cut or more of his money that I sent him it was just smooth and easy.”
You are right! He was talking about Bitcoin, which at the time was a single coin valued around $9.
However, by the time Jeremie had posted his first video about the emerging cryptocurrency in June, he was way ahead on his way to accumulate this stash. He had bought his first Bitcoin in March 2011 for a meager amount of $1, and at the time when Bitcoin was at its peak, his portfolio consisted of 3,000 bitcoins and a portfolio of altcoins, or digital currencies other than Bitcoin.
In one of his videos in 2013, he had warned the investors against holding money and Bitcoins with Tokyo-based exchange Mt. Gox. During that time, Mt. Gox was enabling more than half of all Bitcoin transactions worldwide. “It is my opinion that you should abandon Mt. Gox,” he said in a June 23, 2013 video. “I would suggest you move out of it. Do the trade on the day and get out. Do not leave money in there.”
Jeremie said the reason for his conclusion on Mt. Gox was the previous hacks along with worsening banking relationships, led him to believe that there was something wrong with the exchange. Six months post this his fears were realized when Mt. Gox announced that it had been hacked and 850,000 Bitcoins had been stolen, which during that time were worth around $450 million. This theft still remains the largest in the history of Bitcoin.
He did not stop there. After having invested in Bitcoin right from $1 to above $10,000, Jeremie felt the trend was about to reverse, and the historic bull run was showing signs of reversal. On Dec. 4, 2017, he posted another video where he told his followers that it was now the time to book some profits. “You’d be a fool to not take some off the table,” he said.
Thirteen days after this, Bitcoin made an all-time high above $19,000 before taking a U-turn and heading into a ruthless bear market that’s going on since then. Since then the entire market value of all coins is down by more than $700 billion.
Jeremie exited from half of his investment in early 2018, while crypto was at its peak. Though many other investors were not as smart as Jeremie, to boost the confidence of such investors, he asserted, “Anyone who thinks Bitcoin’s going to zero doesn’t understand the system,” he said in his most recent video on Nov. 30. “You have the unique opportunity of your lifetime to get into bitcoins.”
