Bitcoin has been around for more than 13 years and, naturally, its history is rich with all kinds of captivating and weird stories. Do you remember the days when Bitcoin was almost worthless and one guy even bought a pizza with it? He probably regrets this decision to this day.
Of course, Bitcoin isn’t the only cryptocurrency that has sparked some weird and mind-boggling situations all over the world. From the sudden deaths of crypto-moguls to Elon Musk’s weird relationship with Bitcoin, we present you with unbelievable crypto stories that blew everyone away.
The Famous Bitcoin Pizza
What would you do if you had some valueless virtual money on your hands and were feeling a bit hungry? A guy named Laszlo, a software developer, thought it would be a good idea to get some pizza in exchange for 10,000 Bitcoins. Yes, it hurts us to even think about just how much money was paid for a quick lunch break!
In 2010, Bitcoin was nearly worthless, but a few months later, those two pizzas went from a few dozen bucks to $600, and now they cost around $70 million!
It has become a tradition for blockchain enthusiasts to celebrate Bitcoin Pizza Day on May 22 every year - the very day Lazslo ordered those two pizzas and became a legend.
D is for Dogecoin
Dogecoin might very well be the most endearing and cute cryptocurrency ever created. Originally, it was meant to mock all those weird virtual currencies that emerged on a daily basis, trying to become as famous as Bitcoin, or even more. But what happened was the opposite - Dogecoin gained such a huge following that it became one of Bitcoin’s competitors itself!
Named after the famous Internet meme about a funny Shiba Inu dog, Dogecoin inspired the creation of the Dogecoin Foundation. This charitable organization funds non-profit projects and helps those in need.
Dogecoin Foundation funded the creation of clean water sources in Kenya, sponsored NASCAR drivers, and even sent a bobsled team from Jamaica to the Olympic games! Needless to say, Dogecoin has become a real trend in the world of cryptocurrencies and its popularity is still growing.
Throwing Away Millions of Dollars
There are plenty of Bitcoin success stories, but there are even more dramatic ones when people simply didn’t care enough to save their Bitcoin purchases. Back in the day, when we had no idea that Bitcoin would turn hundreds of people into millionaires, saving Bitcoin for the future didn’t seem like such an important thing.
James Howells was one of those people who thought his hard drive with Bitcoin was just useless junk, and he simply threw it away during a routine house cleaning. That hard drive contained 7,500 BTC!
It wasn’t worth that much in 2013, but now that would translate to $270,000,000. It’s painful to even think that somewhere there lies a hard drive with such a fortune. And, believe it or not, Howells wasn’t the only one who disposed of his money like that! Those people must be really rethinking their life choices right now.
The Pokémon of the Cryptocurrency World
Pokémon, both as an anime TV series and a game of collectibles, has taken over the world numerous times, and the very same principle seems to be working in the realm of cryptocurrency. But instead of cute Pokémons, blockchain users were blown away by CryptoKitties - a game that allows collecting and ‘breeding’ different types of cutely drawn cats.
Sounds a bit weird? Well, not unless you’re a cat person, but the phenomenon got a bit out of hand back in 2017, when the game reached its highest peak of popularity, creating a type of ‘traffic jam’ in the Ethereum network.
Ethereum was used to purchase the collectible artwork of cute kitties and to later ‘breed’ the new ones. Each of the NFTs is unique and some users are willing to pay thousands of dollars for the rarest and cutest images.
Virtual Currency Girls Group
Out of all the crazy things inspired by cryptocurrency, this J-pop group just might be the weirdest of all. Why? Well, we can’t see how a music group dedicated solely to cryptocurrency can be successful for a long period of time.
But who knows? Maybe Kasotsuka Shjojo (“Virtual Currency Girls”) would outlive us all and prove that cryptocurrency is here to stay forever, so they’ll always have some fresh material to sing about. Each member of the group is representing one of the Internet’s most popular cryptocurrencies, so you will get to see Bitcoin, Ripple, Ethereum, and many more.
The group has had its ups and downs, but for now, the girls in French maid costumes and furry masks seem to be doing quite well!
The Smart Policeman
Back in 2013, not many people knew about Bitcoin, but this was not the case with Tony Vaughn, a policeman from Kentucky, who asked the officials to convert his whole salary into Bitcoin and receive it in cryptocurrency. What a bold move!
The officials did their research and didn’t find the officer’s request too weird, so Mr Vaughn started getting his salary in Bitcoin. With an average yearly salary of a policeman in Kentucky being around $54,000, we can only imagine how many Bitcoins he managed to gather in savings.
And with a thought process like that, we imagine he did save more than enough to support himself for decades! Back then 1 Bitcoin was worth $1,000 and now it’s $17,226. We can all do the math here and appreciate the brilliant mind of Tony Vaughn.
Elon Musk’s Love/Hate Relationship with Bitcoin
Elon Musk is one of the biggest inventors and influencers of the technological and digital world. In 2021, he created havoc by announcing that Tesla would start accepting Bitcoin as payment for his cars. Bitcoin was on the rise, but then two months later Elon Musk changed his mind and evoked the announcement due to ‘environmental concerns related to Bitcoin and its mining’.
He has recently hinted once again that Bitcoin might still be accepted as payment for his electric cars, but that still hasn’t become the reality. On the other hand, Elon Musk seems to be a great fan of Dogecoin as he keeps on promoting it via Twitter.
Every time Tesla’s CEO mentions Dogecoin on social media, the cryptocurrency rises in value significantly and now Tesla even allows owners of Dogecoin to use this meme-themed cryptocurrency to buy its merchandise!
The Youngest Cryptocurrency Millionaire as of Today
You’ve probably heard numerous stories about people getting rich by being in the right place at the right time and buying Bitcoin for a few bucks, but we bet none of them involved smart kids who managed to become millionaires due to cryptocurrencies.
Taking risks like that requires some guts, but young Erik Finman, being just 12 years old, sensed that something great was coming up with Bitcoin, that’s why he used $1,000 gifted to him by his grandma to buy some cryptocurrency, which was worth just $12 back then. And he was right to do so!
Well, spending your college money like that might have been a grave mistake, but this is one of those stories that have a happy ending. At 18 Erik Finman became one of the youngest millionaires in the world when Bitcoin’s value hit $2,700. His new Freedom Phone startup also looks very promising!
Garlicoin
All fans of garlic bread - rejoice! Now you have a rare opportunity to become the owner of a garlic-inspired cryptocurrency named Garlicoin. Calling itself ‘the friendly decentralized cryptocurrency you’ve never heard of’, Garlicoin is, indeed, not the most popular virtual currency in the world.
It was born straight out of a Reddit meme when one user suggested that he would create a special Garlicoin if the post was upvoted 30,000 times. Well, guess what happened?
Everyone was so hyped to be able to own this type of cryptocurrency, that it was a unanimous ‘yes’ from thousands of users. Their main question was, would they be able to actually buy garlic bread with Garlicoin? While that’s still up for debate, Garlicoin is still alive and kicking, although it didn’t become as famous as Dogecoin and other meme-themed cryptocurrencies.
StarCraft Had It All Wrong
Ah, those wonderful days when people were still unfamiliar with Bitcoin and just how rich this cryptocurrency could make them… Well, the times have certainly changed and now we look at Bitcoin stories from 2011 with a mixture of humor and sadness. Why weren’t we there?
This one time StarCraft, a military sci-fi game spread all across different galaxies and space worlds, held a competition, inviting around 60 players to take part in the game. The main prize was around $1,000, for the second place players received $500, and the fifth and eighth places received 25 Bitcoins each.
We don’t know whether to laugh or cry looking at this price pool! Back then Bitcoin was worth just $1.65, so the reward wasn’t all that high. We don’t know whether the players held onto their Bitcoins or not, but they could have gained quite a fortune!
Bitcoin Millionaires Going Mad?
Lots of people have made huge fortunes thanks to cryptocurrency, but not many are known for insane stunts like the one performed by Wong Ching Kit, a millionaire from Hong Kong. The owner of Epoch Cryptocurrency showed up one day in one of the poorest districts of Hong Kong in a car filled with money.
He didn’t simply hand out banknotes to those in need - he created an impossible show, throwing a huge amount of money from the top of the building, causing havoc in the streets of Hong Kong. People rushed to collect the money flying all over the place and eventually Wong Ching Kit was arrested for creating a public riot.
The millionaire never commented on his stunt and what made him do it, but many believe that Wong Ching Kit’s fortune wasn’t created solely with cryptocurrency and some scams were involved. Maybe it was his twisted way of giving back to society.
Are You Ready to Join the Ritual?
We aren’t sure just how many H. P. Lovecraft fans there are in the world, but there must be plenty since someone decided to create a special cryptocurrency in the name of Cthulhu, an entity from the story ‘The Call of Cthulhu’ also referred to as The Great Old One.
This cryptocurrency is called Cthulhu Offerings, and it’s a very theme-oriented coin. Within its own realm, users call these coins ‘blessings’, while mining is referred to as ‘making a sacrifice.’ The whole thing was defined as a ‘ritual,’ while the users call themselves ‘cult worshippers.’
If you’re into H. P. Lovecraft and all things dark, this might very well become your favorite cryptocurrency! Adam McKinney, the coin's creator, confessed that it wasn’t created for profit but rather because ‘Cthulhu deserves a way for people to waste electricity in his name’. Whether or not it was meant to raise money, right now, Cthulhu Offerings are slowly becoming more and more popular with each passing day.
How the Winklevoss Brothers Made Their Fortune
If you know Mark Zuckerberg, the creator of Facebook, you must have heard about the Winklevoss Brothers, who sued him for supposedly stealing their idea and developing it on his own.
There must be some truth to it because when the brothers sued their college friend, Mark Zuckerberg, after years of tiresome negotiations, the creator of Facebook agreed to settle. The Winklevoss Brothers received $65 million dollars and spent $11 million on Bitcoin, buying a whopping amount of 91,666 BTC.
Of course, back in 2013, the Bitcoin currency wasn’t nearly as expensive as it is now - 1 Bitcoin was worth $120. With the current rate, their Bitcoin fortune would translate into roughly $645 million!
So What Does 1 Bitcoin Really Look Like?
People familiar with the digital world in general and cryptocurrencies, in particular, aren’t easily fooled when it comes to scams, but for the older generation, it’s all a bit hazy. What’s a Bitcoin - is it an actual coin you can hold in your hand? How do these things work, anyway?
A BitcoinTalk user shared a story about a couple who managed to buy a Bitcoin for just $1,000. Naturally, they were on cloud nine and wanted to know how they could sell it. They contacted this user’s friend for some information on the topic and he happily provided them with all the necessary links.
Sometime later they contacted him again, complaining that they couldn’t sell their Bitcoin. The man decided to meet the couple and when they showed him their ‘Bitcoin’ it turned out to be just a plastic coin with a symbol on it!
Mining Cryptocurrency with… Human Heat?
Things are definitely getting weird with cryptocurrency as time goes by. Everyone wants to own it, but not many people can actually afford to buy it. In that case, you could start mining some crypto coins, but you would need a lot of computer power and electricity to support the whole process.
Alternatively, you could use human energy to mine cryptocurrency. Sounds futuristic? Well, because it is, a certain start-up is sure that this is the future of cryptocurrency mining and an easy and cheap way to earn some coins.
The Institute of Human Obsolescence (IoHO), a start-up from the Netherlands, came up with a brilliant idea to use human warmth to mine cryptocurrency. Users need to wear a rather experimental suit while they sleep in order for the whole thing to work. For around 200 hours of mining, a group of 37 people managed to mine more than 17 thousand different crypto coins!
Crypto-Themed KFC - Is It Really Worth It?
Fast food moguls weren’t too eager to jump on the cryptocurrency wagon back in the day, but times change and KFC had a change of heart as well. In 2018, KFC Canada released a limited edition KFC bucket for $20. Customers could actually pay for it with Bitcoin!
The crypto-themed fried chicken came in a special bucket and the price that was to be paid in cryptocurrency was printed right on the bucket at the moment of purchase.
While KFC Canada’s Bitcoin campaign didn’t last for long, cryptocurrency users did appreciate the gesture and the whole thing got viral on Twitter and Facebook. That was surely a great way to get some instant publicity free of charge, but the fast food industry is far from adopting cryptocurrency any time soon.
Jesus Coin - the First Ever Christian Cryptocurrency
It’s hard to imagine that cryptocurrency can somehow be related to religion, but we guess it was only a matter of time before someone decided to use one of the most popular religious figures in the world to create some cryptocurrency hype.
The coin is advertised as providing ‘global access to Jesus’ in a safer and faster way than ever before and aiding in ‘sin forgiveness’ (but only for Christians). The information on the cryptocurrency’s site is obviously written in a satirical manner, but that didn’t stop thousands of investors from pouring their savings into Jesus Coin.
Initially created as a joke by a group of friends in 2019, Jesus Coin started gaining immense popularity but flopped hard during the next few years. Right now 1 JC is worth around $0.000168.
The Treasure Hunt Is On!
Remember James Howells and his tragic story about losing millions of dollars in Bitcoin on a hard drive that got thrown away? Well, it turns out the man didn’t give up and came up with a desperate (or brilliant) plan on retrieving his lost HDD from the landfill.
Ambitious or crazy? James Howells might be both, but he’s trying to get his plan approved by the authorities. He’s gathered a team of environmentalists and technicians that would help him use a robotic AI-operated hand to search for the lost hard drive.
Whether he finds his lost ‘treasure’ or not, the man definitely deserves some credit. Apart from acquiring the hard drive, he plans to clean up the whole landfill area and turn it into a Bitcoin mining field that would work for the whole community!
50 Cent and Cryptocurrency
With a net worth of around $40 million, 50 Cent is one of the most accomplished rappers and producers in the U.S. But did you know that he is also a cryptocurrency millionaire?
Well, until recently 50 Cent was also unaware of that fact. It turns out that he owns around 700 Bitcoins, which he collected via selling his albums. Back in 2014, 50 Cent was among the few musicians who started accepting cryptocurrency as payment for his music.
As a result, the rapper has collected quite a fortune! He completely forgot that he owned any Bitcoins and rediscovered them only recently. Currently, 700 BTC is worth around $11,771,690. Now that’s a ‘stash’ we all would like to rediscover one day!
Throwing Away $23 Million
How do people even deal with such a loss? Of course, Bitcoin didn’t cost as much 10 years ago, but as this cryptocurrency gets pricier with each passing year, the loss of all those millions must become unbearable… or not?
Unlike James Howells, who couldn’t let go of his fortune (which was considerably bigger, we must admit), Campbell Simpson felt quite calm about his loss. Back in 2010, when Bitcoin was worth close to nothing, he bought 1500 BTC for just $25 and almost forgot about it. Before he could do anything with the new cryptocurrency, he accidentally threw away the laggy hard disk drive containing it and some old photos he wanted to dispose of.
Having done so, he felt a bit disappointed, but not too much. He truly regretted his decision when BTC skyrocketed to $2.5 per coin, making his loss a bit more palpable. But now, as the years have passed and his HDD Bitcoin stash would have been worth more than $23 million, Campbell Simpson hardly regrets it. What’s the point? What’s gone is gone and he managed to let it all go.
The Fast Food Bitcoin
While KFC attempted to accept Bitcoin as payment for a short while, BurgerKing officials decided they didn’t want to accept cryptocurrency - they wanted to create their own! While the idea was quite ambitious, things didn’t go as planned.
BurgerKing came up with its own cryptocurrency, Whoppercoin, for a loyalty program in Russia. For each ruble spent on a Whopper Burger, people would get 1 Whoppercoin. Having collected 1,700 Whoppercoins, customers could then exchange them for a Whopper Burger or use them for trading in some other way.
The company had a lively start, but it didn’t last for more than a year. Maybe Whopper Burgers aren’t really that popular in Russia?
India’s Biggest Bitcoin Scam
India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi has never liked cryptocurrency in general and Bitcoin in particular. Maybe that’s why he became the victim of one of the boldest cyber attacks and Bitcoin scams in the history of Twitter.
Narendra Modi’s Twitter account was hacked and scammers published a message saying that the Indian government has bought 500 Bitcoins. They even went as far as asking people to donate their Bitcoins to a noble cause of fighting Covid.
The Prime Minister’s account has around 73 million followers and the damage could have been irreparable! Luckily, the message was intercepted almost instantaneously and, hopefully, no one was deceived by the scam.
A Tragic Bitcoin Story with a Happy Ending
Some people got really lucky with Bitcoin, but for others, owning cryptocurrency turned into a real drama. Mark Frauenfelder, a journalist from the United States, got interested in Bitcoin when it was just on the rise. Having bought six Bitcoins and a Trezor wallet to store them, he decided to find a very special place to keep his 24-word password.
The drawer wasn’t good enough, so, when he needed to go to Japan for a business trip, he slipped the paper with the wallet’s password under his daughter’s pillow, hoping it would be all safe and sound there.
Imagine his surprise, when he didn’t find the cherished paper upon getting home from the trip. It turned out the house was cleaned while he was away and the password was lost for good! It took the journalist half a year to retrieve the password - when he did, his $3,000 turned into $30,000!
‘Life on Bitcoin’ for 90 Days
Right now living solely on Bitcoin doesn’t seem like something worth mentioning - if you have BTC, then you’re all good! But this definitely wasn’t the case back in 2013, when cryptocurrency was a relatively new thing. Still, Austin and Beccy Craig decided to live solely on Bitcoin for 90 days and create a documentary about their ordeals.
Naturally, they wanted to pay for everything with Bitcoin, but that was impossible. Most of the time they had to ask some third parties for help - be it a relative or some travel agent who’d accept Bitcoin for payment. Needless to say, not many people were eager to accept Bitcoin in the town of Provo, Utah!
The couple had to negotiate with shopkeepers, restaurant owners, and gas station personnel all the time to be able to cover their basic needs. And why did the couple do it in the first place? They just wanted more people to know about Bitcoin and how life-changing cryptocurrency could be!
John McAfee's Untimely Death
John McAffee, the famous creator of the McAfee Antivirus that helped him build a huge fortune, became a huge fan of BitCoin the second it appeared on the market. Why? Well, having evaded paying taxes for more than 10 years, he greeted Bitcoin with open arms, along with the financial freedom and safety that came with it.
He even predicted that by 2020 Bitcoin would be worth $500,000. That didn’t happen, of course, but Bitcoin did reach the price of roughly $9,200, proving that McAfee was right in supporting the new currency.
Still, the U.S. Department of Justice got to him and John McAfee was imprisoned in Spain. Having spent 8 months in prison, he was found dead in his cell. The case was an apparent suicide, but his followers weren’t convinced as John McAfee had previously stated that he would never do such a thing.
Useless Ethereum Token
In the world of cryptocurrency, it seems that everything is possible. People just come up with the funniest and weirdest ideas and try to make them work! This Useless Ethereum Token, for example, is exactly what it seems to be - useless.
This ICO (Initial Coin Offering) is of no value at all! Its logo literally gives you the finger and that’s everything you need to know about this cryptocurrency. If you research the Useless Ethereum Token’s website, you’ll find out that it’s actually useless - if you buy it, you’ll be just giving away your money for someone else to spend on the things they like.
Why on Earth would someone create such a token? Do they really think that people would buy it after such an introduction? We can’t be sure of anything when it comes to cryptocurrency!
Tupac Shakur’s NFTs are… Worthless?
Tupac Shakur was one of the most influential rappers in the world and one would think that his NFTs are priceless and would sell for thousands of dollars. He might have been a legendary musician and performer with a tragic story, but his NFTs don’t seem to reflect that.
Laurence Dotson held onto photos of Tupac Shakur for almost 30 years before trying to sell them to the highest bidder. He didn’t want to have the old-school auction; instead, he tried to sell them as NFTs (nonfungible tokens).
Still, despite all the coverage made by RollingStone and other famous online magazines, the auction didn’t go as expected. None of Tupac’s NFTs were sold! Maybe the price was too high? The journalist put a price tag of 25 ETH on them (around $100,000 at the time), and no one was willing to pay so much for one photo of the rapper. Disappointed, Laurence Dotson decided to try his luck with private buyers.
The Bitcoin ‘Dealer’
It was the year 2013, and Bitcoin was growing fast. It wasn’t as popular as it is today and two guys from Israel had a hard time finding ways to buy it. Wanting to invest in this new cryptocurrency, they decided to go old-school and find a Bitcoin dealer via the Internet.
This way they could buy Bitcoin for cash without any hustle. Through a mutual acquaintance, they found the most famous Bitcoin dealer in the neighborhood and contacted him. It was like a meeting from a movie!
The friends were meeting the dealer in person for the first time at an exact location (it turned out to be a cafe) with a laptop and a hefty amount of cash on them. When the Bitcoin dealer showed up - he turned out to be a 13-year-old teenager! The boy mined some Bitcoins years ago when it was much easier and was now doing business out of it. They all had a good laugh, made the exchange, and went their separate ways.
What Is It Like to Be a Crypto Millionaire?
The world of cryptocurrency is marked with both tragic and successful stories. Cooper Turley, one of the youngest crypto millionaires as of today, definitely hit the jackpot when he decided to buy his first Ethereum coins five years ago.
Bitcoin’s value was around $2,000 at the time and there was not much information about cryptocurrency trends back then. Still, Cooper Turley got fascinated with the whole thing and decided to invest in Ethereum when it was worth just $100. He decided to take the risk and spent almost all his money buying cryptocurrency!
Cooper Turley is keeping the amount of BTC and ETC he owns a secret, but he has paid off his student loan and even covered his mother’s mortgage! Currently, his net worth is estimated to be around $5 million.
Dentacoin
Dentists and cryptocurrency might not seem like the most obvious match initially, but dental services might also benefit from cryptocurrency-induced freedom. Dentacoin doesn’t have a lot of users right now, but it’s gradually getting bigger.
Right now Dentacoin has users from over 16 countries, mostly dentists and big clinics. Things might change for the better when people would be able to use this cryptocurrency as payment for dental services.
Dentacoin’s popularity and price spiked when East Tremont Medical Center in Bronx, NY announced that it would start accepting Dentacoin as payment for a variety of clinic’s services.