About people that bought too early [and lost them]

[Ultegra134]

I don't care what you guys say. If I had bought <enter whatever you want here> bitcoins, I may wouldn't be that careful with the private keys, but I would surely see how things have gone. How far it has gone since the day I made my purchase. If I knew I had lost them for good, then there wouldn't be any point on reading the news. But if I just hadn't searched enough? Really?

Oh boy, imagine seeing your 100 bitcoins on the blockchain, but knowing that you can't access them. It must hurt.

I assume that this guy was busy with something else in his life that's why he forgot about his Bitcoin until now.

How busy can you be to avoid a huge fortune you have lost somewhere in your house?

There are quite a few people who might have bought at extremely low prices, when it first started, forgot about them when they saw little to no progression in their investment (Whom might have considered the whole Bitcoin thing as a phase/trend or a joke). Thus, some lost their wallet credentials, dumped them by mistake in old HDDs, or even just completely forgot they had actually bought at some point.

Several stories pop up every once in a while, especially when Bitcoin is receiving extensive publicity (during bull markets, similar to 2017's or the current one). Some of them might be fake, but some others are definitely true. Me, myself found two old wallets which I had completely forgotten about. (Only $100 worth though).

[Hippocrypto]

This month that bitcoin has risen abruptly compared to the previous months, a lot of people have created new topics asking for help about their funds. For example this gentleman appeared out of nowhere after 9 years that had bought bitcoins and created a new thread, explaining that he found a paper wallet that was damaged in his closet. And now I'm asking myself, why now? Let's assume that he had bought 100 bitcoins in 2012. By 2016, he would have a great fortune. By the end of 2017 an even bigger.

Don't they read the news? Because if I had bought that amount of coins a decade ago, I'm sure that I'd see out of curiosity how well it has gone. Since the paper wallet was in his closet, it means that he didn't care that much.

Another bad example is this thread in which iwoswinvs (who is probably a liar) announces on a forum that he owns 50,000 bitcoins. I think there are more people like the first one, though.

My perspective for this story was this guy owned a huge quantity of bitcoin, and technically he'd going to accumulate many times and multiply his asset once there's a dip. I believed that this person owned not only bitcoin, but also had a physical business earning good profit which going to capitalized bitcoin as holdings. Bitcoin all alone won't sustain, that why we need other sources of income, and if someone who bought so early and not planning to dump it; then another opportunity will happen if they won't panic about speculations.

[serjent05]

This month that bitcoin has risen abruptly compared to the previous months, a lot of people have created new topics asking for help about their funds. For example this gentleman appeared out of nowhere after 9 years that had bought bitcoins and created a new thread, explaining that he found a paper wallet that was damaged in his closet. And now I'm asking myself, why now? Let's assume that he had bought 100 bitcoins in 2012. By 2016, he would have a great fortune. By the end of 2017 an even bigger.
Don't they read the news? Because if I had bought that amount of coins a decade ago, I'm sure that I'd see out of curiosity how well it has gone. Since the paper wallet was in his closet, it means that he didn't care that much.

It was very clear that the author of that thread forgot about those BTC, so no matter what the news is, if you forgot that you bought some you wouldn't do a thing.  This also reminds me of the BTC I left on an exchange.  I forgot that I used that exchange and lucky, before the exchange shutdown they send an email to their user asking them to withdraw their fund.  That is when I knew that I left some BTC on that exchange, it had been 3 years that passed before I received that email and realized that I have some BTC to withdraw from their site.  I think it's not that he doesn't care, it is that during those time BTC was too cheap that forgetting it is not a big deal.

[Twinkledoe]

This month that bitcoin has risen abruptly compared to the previous months, a lot of people have created new topics asking for help about their funds. For example this gentleman appeared out of nowhere after 9 years that had bought bitcoins and created a new thread, explaining that he found a paper wallet that was damaged in his closet. And now I'm asking myself, why now? Let's assume that he had bought 100 bitcoins in 2012. By 2016, he would have a great fortune. By the end of 2017 an even bigger.
Don't they read the news? Because if I had bought that amount of coins a decade ago, I'm sure that I'd see out of curiosity how well it has gone. Since the paper wallet was in his closet, it means that he didn't care that much.

It was very clear that the author of that thread forgot about those BTC, so no matter what the news is, if you forgot that you bought some you wouldn't do a thing.  This also reminds me of the BTC I left on an exchange.  I forgot that I used that exchange and lucky, before the exchange shutdown they send an email to their user asking them to withdraw their fund.  That is when I knew that I left some BTC on that exchange, it had been 3 years that passed before I received that email and realized that I have some BTC to withdraw from their site.  I think it's not that he doesn't care, it is that during those time BTC was too cheap that forgetting it is not a big deal.

Actually, yes, there are a lot of people that never thought that btc price will be this big. So those early users that had good amount of btc, they ignored their coins for long time. And when the price goes up, they started to uncover those lost keys/pw to open their wallets. And in  my case, as we all know, a lot of us are using different exchanges to trade coins, I keep all the login details in one place and check every once in a while. Some exchanges actually closed down already, remember nova/tradesat/cryptopia and many others. I bet a lot of them had their coins that were not recovered because of the shutdown.

[jahepahit]

For someone who has had Bitcoin and forgot the keys would have been looking for a way to recover and access the wallets. Well it's a very frustrating situation, anyone who can't find his wallet details after several trials should just relax and hope some miracles happen if not then learn from it and move on.

[Kelvinid]

This month that bitcoin has risen abruptly compared to the previous months, a lot of people have created new topics asking for help about their funds. For example this gentleman appeared out of nowhere after 9 years that had bought bitcoins and created a new thread, explaining that he found a paper wallet that was damaged in his closet. And now I'm asking myself, why now? Let's assume that he had bought 100 bitcoins in 2012. By 2016, he would have a great fortune. By the end of 2017 an even bigger.

Don't they read the news? Because if I had bought that amount of coins a decade ago, I'm sure that I'd see out of curiosity how well it has gone. Since the paper wallet was in his closet, it means that he didn't care that much.

Another bad example is this thread in which iwoswinvs (who is probably a liar) announces on a forum that he owns 50,000 bitcoins. I think there are more people like the first one, though.

Anyway, I don't believe their stories, they are only in the hype. If people will think that it real and they are telling the truth, I really don't think about it. Because there is no reason why you will forget your investment and then you can just remember at this time, a thing to be ridiculous and obviously pretty lies.

It possible that there are a lot of lost bitcoins but I don't think it can be of this amount hold by a single person. Usually, it happens that they lost their private keys, abandoned wallet address,  stuck on the exchanges, and etc...

[Oasisman]

Don't they read the news? Because if I had bought that amount of coins a decade ago, I'm sure that I'd see out of curiosity how well it has gone. Since the paper wallet was in his closet, it means that he didn't care that much.

This is either a made up stories or an attempt to buy Bitcoin back when it's worth merely a buck and decided not to. It's "almost" impossible for someone who bought Bitcoin and totally forget about it when in the first place he had been hiding his paper wallet inside a closet for almost 10 years and then heard the news all over the television, in the internet, and literally everywhere about how Bitcoin has been booming since the late of 2017.
I doubt there were only a handful of ordinary people who had Bitcoin just before the price went over a hundred bucks and still holding up until now or sold in 2017 or earlier.

[Rengga Jati]

Well, aside from feeling sad and also the regret of what happened to them (and probably others also), I also thought the same, why did they just realize to sell BTC right now.
I don't think that the reason is that the price is not satisfying enough in 2016. If they bought it in 2012, they have had so many profits selling it in 2017, multiple times amounts to get.
Or, didn't they realize that they had Bitcoin? Or, they also realized that they had no key at that year and he just let it go. And now when the price multiple times higher again, they tried to find the key again?
If this is the case, it means that careless is the first reason. Whatever the condition that they had in the past, if you are really a careful person, you will always save the key safely, making the backup and also ensure that they are safe. Whether one of them is gone, they still have the backup. 

[xiboothrezi]

whether it's a true story or just a fiction, the fact is there are many people who initially think bitcoin is worthless and so don't manage its storage properly. so a lot of news from some people who have lost access to their wallet, which has a lot of BTC in it, which used to be easy to get.
I can not imagine how much regret the people who lost the key, even though he had a lot of money in his wallet. this new treasure model,

[milewilda]

This month that bitcoin has risen abruptly compared to the previous months, a lot of people have created new topics asking for help about their funds. For example this gentleman appeared out of nowhere after 9 years that had bought bitcoins and created a new thread, explaining that he found a paper wallet that was damaged in his closet. And now I'm asking myself, why now? Let's assume that he had bought 100 bitcoins in 2012. By 2016, he would have a great fortune. By the end of 2017 an even bigger.

Don't they read the news? Because if I had bought that amount of coins a decade ago, I'm sure that I'd see out of curiosity how well it has gone. Since the paper wallet was in his closet, it means that he didn't care that much.

Another bad example is this thread in which iwoswinvs (who is probably a liar) announces on a forum that he owns 50,000 bitcoins. I think there are more people like the first one, though.

When you do help up soo much coins then you would really still forget those specially if you have bought nor earned those coins in early years to believe that it wasnt really that valuable into those times.
When the price had skyrocketed then its just normal for someone to look for his coins and made out some unexpected fortune along the way.Those amounts are enourmous which you would really
be eager on finding those coins back.For those who havent able to recover then its game over for them, its sad to hear off but there no way you can get access those coins back as long
you dont have the keys thats why its always important to secure those things up because you wouldnt know on what would be the future looks like.
You would really be ending up on regretting.

[Sithara007]

I was a bit late to enter the cryptocurrency sector. I purchased by first coins in 2014, when the price was around $600 per coin. But I know a few guys who were involved since 2012. Their story is also similar. Back then, no one really thought that the exchange  rates would go up by 1,000x. So they were careless about storing their coins. Those who are fortunate enough managed to recover them. But I know a few cases where the coins were lost due to careless handling.

[virasisog]

There had been a lot of stories like this where people had lost and found their old hard disk, their private keys, and so on. I guess some of them are true. It can happen to anyone especially those who have bought crypto early and had lost their access to their wallet or even forgot where they kept it since no one knew that BTC price will reach this kind of price. Some people don't care that much about their crypto in its early days. Take for example the pizza guys who have bought a pizza paying thousands of BTC for it.

[shoreno]

btc was undervalued decades ago and you can rarely see it in the news . investors read news so that they will know if what are the status of their assets and if there are news that may affect their assets and also investors dont just often check their asset but after buying it they forget it for many years and prolly that had happen to that guy .

 and when should we store our paper wallets ? i didnt find it wrong storing in the closet because this is also where i store my important files .

[lovesmayfamilis]

Why go somewhere far and ask who bought earlier and then sold or lost, forgot or donated. Many people among us received bitcoins on the forum, bought bitcoins. And then they sold or simply lost interest in the forum, their accounts are simply dead today. I read the message histories of many legends on this forum. Many had hoped for big profits, but despite this, for one reason or another, people were forced to sell their assets.
This is, I think, life, we cannot look into our future, we cannot but make mistakes. Another thing is important. It is important to draw the right conclusions and not make the same mistakes today.
And to regret very much that you lost and could have, this is the easiest path to madness.

[torrantz]

People forgets and btc in the early stage is really cheap like if I ask you where you put your pennies 10 years ago will you remember it? I bet you don't. but, your statement holds truth aswell though. Some of them might just trying to seek attention.
But, actually whether those story really true or not actually none of our business. If we can help them retrieving the privkey that was lost, good. Otherwise, better to just leave that topic. However, it shouldn't be a strange thing to see people seeking a way and asking such question because honestly this forum frequently appears first page in google search engine when it comes to cryptocurrency problems.

[zanezane]

For someone who has had Bitcoin and forgot the keys would have been looking for a way to recover and access the wallets. Well it's a very frustrating situation, anyone who can't find his wallet details after several trials should just relax and hope some miracles happen if not then learn from it and move on.

Don't blame yourself, did your past self know that the price of bitcoin will be this high? If not then you are regretting about something that you don't have a control with. I do agree that it is frustrating but what can you do, you already lost it right? On the plus side, you are one of the contributors to the increase of the price of bitcoin so give yourself a pat on the back. The worst that you can do is you get obsessed to it and get lost in your way of life that the only thing you are thinking is those lost coins from the yesteryear, unable to move forward and didn't have a chance to turn your life back around. About those people claiming they lost more than 2 digit of bitcoin, I think that they should get their storytelling skills up a notch because some people can easily see through their BS.

[AakZaki]

Storing Bitcoin in a paper wallet carries a huge risk of loss when the paper is damaged as experienced by someone told by the OP. Hardware wallets in 2012 may not have been very popular, so using paper wallets is easier to do. However, if you are not careful when you save it, it will be damaged and cannot be opened again.
He should also have a copy of the see phrase elsewhere so that if the first backup breaks there are still others. But I don't know, maybe because in 2012 the price of bitcoin was still very cheap, that person didn't pay attention to that security.

[VanityWallets2015]

Storing Bitcoin in a paper wallet carries a huge risk of loss when the paper is damaged as experienced by someone told by the OP. Hardware wallets in 2012 may not have been very popular, so using paper wallets is easier to do. However, if you are not careful when you save it, it will be damaged and cannot be opened again.
He should also have a copy of the see phrase elsewhere so that if the first backup breaks there are still others. But I don't know, maybe because in 2012 the price of bitcoin was still very cheap, that person didn't pay attention to that security.

You are right. There is a greater risk of loss in pap wallet compared to hardware, my friend had an experience with these.
Maybe it’s our nature, to not over mind something that is not yet valuable for us. Like you said, BTC price is just cheap back then.
We should all learn a lesson from many experiences of forgotten keys and passwords in this forum. Save it anywhere you can.

[MishaSER]

Why go somewhere far and ask who bought earlier and then sold or lost, forgot or donated. Many people among us received bitcoins on the forum, bought bitcoins. And then they sold or simply lost interest in the forum, their accounts are simply dead today. I read the message histories of many legends on this forum. Many had hoped for big profits, but despite this, for one reason or another, people were forced to sell their assets.
This is, I think, life, we cannot look into our future, we cannot but make mistakes. Another thing is important. It is important to draw the right conclusions and not make the same mistakes today.
And to regret very much that you lost and could have, this is the easiest path to madness.

In life, there are always difficulties and difficulties with money, almost the most important thing. I do not think that it is 100% likely to be called a mistake in selling your assets in the past. Life difficulties with money always accompany us throughout all our lives.

[Chuky92]

I don't think it matters if they are lying or saying the truth, moreover there is no way to know the truth or what really happened, but however it goes to show two things; first a lot of people who had participated in the early of life of Bitcoin acquired a lot and because of its less price didn't value it for much and hence disregarded it, wherein a lot lost their private keys and so on, and now with the worth of Bitcoin they are trying their best to recover it, this shows that, in fact many people participated during the early life of Bitcoin. Secondly, it shows that, with the increasing worth of Bitcoin today, many of these stories will keep coming up, with people looking for ways to recover their wallet or access their abandoned harddrive etc. And lastly, there is every tendency that many people who had a lot, sold for a Penny and today would be regretting that decision.