This is Jimmy Zhong
This guy made $3.4 billion and hid it in a Cheetos popcorn tin
Just one mistake, and he lost EVERYTHING
Here’s his story 🧵👇
In 2012, Jimmy Zhong discovered a flaw in the code of Silk Road, a darknet marketplace for drugs with transactions in BTC.
This flaw netted him 51,680 BTC. However, the FBI was on the hunt for these funds.
For over a decade, Jimmy lived a lavish lifestyle and successfully concealed that these bitcoins were his.
However, due to his own mistakes, FBI eventually uncovered the truth.
The government seized all his funds, and Jimmy ended up in prison.
Having studied the entire situation, it's hard for me to say whether he's guilty or not. But the story is fascinating and very instructive 👇
While browsing a programming forum, Jimmy came across a post about a new digital currency called Bitcoin.
Being skilled in programming, he recognized the potential of this technology.
Jimmy became one of the first to start mining BTC on his laptop.
Jimmy couldn't make a substantial profit and forgot about his bitcoins until 2011.
By then, their value had risen to $30 per BTC, but Jimmy had lost his wallet.
He decided to become an active participant in the Bitcoin community.
He created an account on Bitcoin Talk, using a pseudonym inspired by his dream car — the Mercedes-Benz 300 SD.
Jimmy also developed an interest in gambling and created his own website, earning money from paid users
More importantly, he managed to recover most of the coins he had mined in 2009
He threw parties every week, getting drunk until he passed out, and this went on for six years
As an active internet user, Jimmy learned about Silk Road, the notorious site for trading drugs with bitcoins
Within a year after this mistake, the police conducted searches in his homes.
During a search of his lakefront mansion, they found $700,000 in cash and 25 Cassius coins worth 174 BTC.
But the most surprising discovery was a Cheetos popcorn can, which contained the computer holding all of Jimmy's bitcoins.
