This Chinese kiddo lost $6B.
He may appear young, but his journey holds valuable lessons for both new and pros in crypto 👇
It all started back in the early days of Bitcoin
16-year-old Zhao Tong was fascinated by the tech and he was determined to get involved.
However, due to the lack of reputable crypto exchanges, buying Bitcoin was quite challenging.
Long story short, he bought his first BTC...right before the infamous Mt. Gox crash that tanked the price.
Zhao's holdings lost 99% of their value overnight- a loss that would be worth over $6 billion today.
Rather than give up, Zhao doubled down and in just FOUR DAYS he built his own exchange, Bitcoinica.
He created one of the first platforms to offer cutting-edge features like margin trading and it was an INSTANT hit.
With no marketing and basic security, it was rivalling the biggest players with $40 million in monthly volume.
In two weeks, Zhao had made 2,000 $BTC
Tong's youth and inexperience understandably raised some concerns about security but Bitcoinica continued expanding rapidly.
Investors approached Tong with an offer to purchase the exchange and as a student with exams coming up, he agreed to sell.
Zhao made the decision to sell Bitcoinica to a larger company called Wendon Group looking to expand in the space.
Things were looking good...until hackers targeted Bitcoinica multiple times and stole over 100k BTC FROM USERS.
He didn't do anything wrong but his name became known with these hacks within the tight-knit crypto community.
Tong chose to step away from the industry. However, he did retain 1,000 BTC which he invested in a rare solid gold Casascius coin now valued at over $60 million.
This isn't a story of a story of wasted potential. It is a reminder to value the groundwork laid by those who took risks in Bitcoin's unpredictable early days.
There was no blueprint for building secure exchange infrastructure back in 2012, and even today major established players have suffered massive hacks and thefts.
We all need to be safe out here.
