Original "Buy Bitcoin" sign for sale at an auction in a couple of days

[Synchronice]

Who would forget that event considering that he obviously pissed off aunt Yellen while she was talking about how printing money is the solution to the financial crisis or whatever she was already talking about. I even had that picture as my avatar for a while

Do you mean Janet Yellen? When did she say that printing money is the solution to financial crisis? By the way, it's sad but too many people lack the most basic financial education and think that printing money is all that's necessary for better life. People have this opinion when only one cell of brain barely works.

I mean it was interesting I could see it has a great story overall but maybe would be better if sold on something like an NFT,

C'mon man, I hope this will not turn into another NFT and Ordinals bullshit.

Is this man from Bitcointalk? From a quick thought, it looks like someone asked him to sing a message and he thought he had to write it down on paper and take a picture. By the way, why should someone buy this? It's from 2017, not from 2008 and there is nothing valuable here, it's just a paper where someone write something.

[Lucius]

Who would forget that event considering that he obviously pissed off aunt Yellen while she was talking about how printing money is the solution to the financial crisis or whatever she was already talking about. I even had that picture as my avatar for a while

Do you mean Janet Yellen? When did she say that printing money is the solution to financial crisis? By the way, it's sad but too many people lack the most basic financial education and think that printing money is all that's necessary for better life. People have this opinion when only one cell of brain barely works.

If you carefully read what I wrote, you will see that I only expressed myself sarcastically in relation to the policy of endless money printing - and in the link from the 2nd post of this topic, you can read what she was talking about in front of Congress when that sign appeared behind her.

Yellen was speaking during the first round of the Fed’s semiannual monetary policy report to Congress and the state of the economy.

Unfortunately, people (the majority) show that it is not important to them what will happen in 1, 10 or 20 years, but how they are today. Someone will have to pay all the debts that the system creates, and obviously we have no problem leaving that burden to our descendants.

[Z-tight]

I would like to see how much people will be willing to bid for this collectible, starting from tomorrow. Some members have already shared their sentiments in this topic as to why they don't think people should pay too much for this, but you never know, for people who have a lot of money, they may not mind spending some of it on a piece of BTC's history.

By the way, why should someone buy this? It's from 2017, not from 2008 and there is nothing valuable here, it's just a paper where someone write something.

The value in it is that it is a very popular story in the BTC community, there is a very high chance that anyone who joins the network now and in the future would read about what happened that day. So it is kind of a piece of BTC's history and people would want to have it, the only problem is the one being sold in this auction does not seem to be the original.

[peter0425]

How did the man keep that paper since 2017 and did not throw it away shortly after that?

As someone who has a habit of shoving papers down my bag, I would say that’s pretty impressive lol

but you could see that the paper below seems relatively new and void of any crumpled parts or just sign that it was used and stored for years now. If I had a picture that can prove that I was into bitcoin years back that would be priceless for me.

Anyway I personally do not understand the point of buying a yellow paper with a “Buy Bitcoin” written with a marker on it when I could do it myself despite any significance of the paper itself. But it would still be entertaining to see how high the price can get.

[examplens]

It's because it could be part of Bitcoin's history. So not sure if you really witnessed this guy or you are not but here is the video for you, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I7GdLQIChNA

And so this guy somewhat became (in)famous to us, to Bitcoin enthusiast and now going to auction that piece of paper.

@kryptqnick - it might be a good idea, but obviously this guy needs his BTC for that piece of memorabilia. 

I still don't see how this is part of Bitcoin history. The guy shows the sign "buy Bitcoin" on live TV in just a few seconds.
It will go down in history only if someone pays an incredible amount for this.

[Lucius]

I still don't see how this is part of Bitcoin history. The guy shows the sign "buy Bitcoin" on live TV in just a few seconds.
It will go down in history only if someone pays an incredible amount for this.

In a broader context, we can call that event a part of BTC history - because it's not just a piece of paper that says "Buy Bitcoin", it's the fact that a man wrote it and held it up in the middle of Congress while Janet Yellen (Secretary of the Treasury) was speaking. Considering their views on Bitcoin, it gives the whole thing some weight.

"I don't think that bitcoin is widely used as a transaction mechanism," Yellen told the DealBook DC Policy Project. "It's an extremely inefficient way of conducting transactions and the amount of energy that's consumed in processing those transactions is staggering."

[nullama]

Wow. I actually remember the day that this happened. And if I recall correctly, if you followed his advice and bought bitcoin on that day, I think it was the last time bitcoin was at that price.

He became an icon after this event. He might of lost his position because of this stunt, according to a few press interviews he did shortly after. I find it crazy that he held on to that piece of paper for so long. I assumed it would of faded in color by now. Those types of notebooks dont hold up very well for long periods of time .

But I agree with the above poster, it was in the notebook and then he tore it out, and now its in the notebook again? Doesn't make sense.

Yeah, it's a weird feeling in my mind.

On one hand it is the amazing dude that showed the sign and is now selling it, fair enough....

But...

It doesn't look right if he also posted a photo with the sign and an address talking about it...

I don't know, maybe you can make the paper nicer and "forget" the marks you can see before... sure.. but if he actually shows the sign outside of the board it would actually make me think better of it...

[Lucius]

At first glance, it seems that there are people interested in this auction, because the current price for this "piece of paper" is over 0.5 BTC - now the only question is whether the bids are "honest" or "friends" pump up the price to give the whole thing importance

[Plaguedeath]

At first glance, it seems that there are people interested in this auction, because the current price for this "piece of paper" is over 0.5 BTC - now the only question is whether the bids are "honest" or "friends" pump up the price to give the whole thing importance

tdiggles is really obsessed to win the auction.

He looks like an OG and value his privacy, so he might be a honest bidder.

While the another person Tristan Lamonica who work on Parliament of Canada. There's a chance he know Christian Langalis personally because he live in neighbor country.

[nullama]

~snip~
tdiggles is really obsessed to win the auction.

He looks like an OG and value his privacy, so he might be a honest bidder.

While the another person Tristan Lamonica who work on Parliament of Canada. There's a chance he know Christian Langalis personally because he live in neighbor country.

There are only a few people bidding there. I personally can only recognize cryptograffiti.

He is a Bitcoin activist artist, and I stumbled upon his work some time ago. He has many great pieces of art that you can see in his website: https://cryptograffiti.com but I think these are the most relevant for this thread:




Although my favorite is probably Running Bitcoin, "signed" by Hal (it is his credit card): https://cryptograffiti.com/products/running-bitcoin

Repurposed credit cards, acrylic and bitcoin node on used bank deposit box

28 cm x 54 cm (11 in x 21.5 in)

This piece was created to commemorate the 10th anniversary of Hal Finney's involvement in Bitcoin.
Repurposed credit cards sit atop a used bank deposit box.  Inside, a customized node allows one to "run bitcoin."   This WiFi-enabled node is adhered to only run when paired w/ the art.  Embedded within the work is Hal’s signed credit card given to me by his wife Fran.

[kotajikikox]

In a broader context, we can call that event a part of BTC history - because it's not just a piece of paper that says "Buy Bitcoin", it's the fact that a man wrote it and held it up in the middle of Congress while Janet Yellen (Secretary of the Treasury) was speaking. Considering their views on Bitcoin, it gives the whole thing some weight.

I can see how many can pass this thing and disregard it as it is not useful or interesting or worthwhile of money as anyone can get a paper and write ‘Buy Bitcoin’ on it.

But it holds a significant value at the time that it was written and showed to the world. Not much of the world were aware of cryptocurrency and bitcoin at the time so I can see how it can be attractive to hold a piece of paper that basically represents bitcoin’s history

[adaseb]

Wow. I actually remember the day that this happened. And if I recall correctly, if you followed his advice and bought bitcoin on that day, I think it was the last time bitcoin was at that price.

He became an icon after this event. He might of lost his position because of this stunt, according to a few press interviews he did shortly after. I find it crazy that he held on to that piece of paper for so long. I assumed it would of faded in color by now. Those types of notebooks dont hold up very well for long periods of time .

But I agree with the above poster, it was in the notebook and then he tore it out, and now its in the notebook again? Doesn't make sense.

Yeah, it's a weird feeling in my mind.

On one hand it is the amazing dude that showed the sign and is now selling it, fair enough....

But...

It doesn't look right if he also posted a photo with the sign and an address talking about it...

I don't know, maybe you can make the paper nicer and "forget" the marks you can see before... sure.. but if he actually shows the sign outside of the board it would actually make me think better of it...

Yeah there is always a chance that he just threw that piece of paper which was seen on TV in the garbage a few days after and then 7 years later had an idea that he can auction it off. So he just bought the same paper pad and same pen and write it out again. And there is no way to tell if its real or not unless somehow some expert can study the paper and see how old it can possibly be.

Its like buying a signed autograph of some celebrity, you need to get it certified because anyone can look at a signature and sign it themselves and make it seem like its authentic.

[pooya87]

It's crazy how much money people pay for weird stuff like this that in reality have no value
It was cool and all what he did and even I wore this iconic picture as an avatar for a while but I wouldn't pay more than $10 for something like this...

P.S. I love how they're holding it up wearing gloves in the picture as if it is some ancient work of art that needs to be preserved LOL

[Solosanz]

Winning Bid
Squirrekkywrath
16 BTC
$1,012,437.92

We already have a winner, the guy spent 16 BTC just for this one legal pad. It's really crazy, the guy might have at least 100 BTC since 16 BTC is like nothing for him. Now I'm curious whether he want to sell this collectible in the future especially when Bitcoin market cap already beat gold market cap.

[cryptomaniac_xxx]

Winning Bid
Squirrekkywrath
16 BTC
$1,012,437.92

We already have a winner, the guy spent 16 BTC just for this one legal pad. It's really crazy, the guy might have at least 100 BTC since 16 BTC is like nothing for him. Now I'm curious whether he want to sell this collectible in the future especially when Bitcoin market cap already beat gold market cap.

And we might put a face on the name,



https://twitter.com/PubKey_NYC/status/178327593205829635

So we might have a whale here. And I don't think that he had just 100 BTC in my opinion.

If I have to buy with 16 BTC I could have still at least 90% of my BTC, so most like this guy had like 150-200 BTC stash somewhere else.

[btc_angela]

It's because it could be part of Bitcoin's history. So not sure if you really witnessed this guy or you are not but here is the video for you, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I7GdLQIChNA

And so this guy somewhat became (in)famous to us, to Bitcoin enthusiast and now going to auction that piece of paper.

@kryptqnick - it might be a good idea, but obviously this guy needs his BTC for that piece of memorabilia. 

I still don't see how this is part of Bitcoin history. The guy shows the sign "buy Bitcoin" on live TV in just a few seconds.
It will go down in history only if someone pays an incredible amount for this.

Still considered though, perhaps during that time only a small percentage has known Bitcoin, so having it in Congress and in front of TV? that is huge part of history already for us. We haven't seen that in any other crypto.

So this guy suddenly appears in his yellow pad with the "buy Bitcoin", and I think that time it already created some hype and we might say it contributed for Bitcoin to move forward, albeit it also attracted the attention of some US government agencies.

[nullama]

~snip~
Still considered though, perhaps during that time only a small percentage has known Bitcoin, so having it in Congress and in front of TV? that is huge part of history already for us. We haven't seen that in any other crypto.

So this guy suddenly appears in his yellow pad with the "buy Bitcoin", and I think that time it already created some hype and we might say it contributed for Bitcoin to move forward, albeit it also attracted the attention of some US government agencies.

They already know.

The CIA knew about Bitcoin in 2011 because Gavin Andresen went there to have a talk about Bitcoin: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=6652.0

I want to get this out in the open because it is the kind of thing that will generate conspiracy theories:  I'm going to give a presentation about Bitcoin at CIA headquarters in June at an emerging technologies conference for the US intelligence community.

[Silberman]

Winning Bid
Squirrekkywrath
16 BTC
$1,012,437.92

We already have a winner, the guy spent 16 BTC just for this one legal pad. It's really crazy, the guy might have at least 100 BTC since 16 BTC is like nothing for him. Now I'm curious whether he want to sell this collectible in the future especially when Bitcoin market cap already beat gold market cap.

Those are people that have so much money they do not really know what to do with it anymore, and while at the time this moment became an icon and pretty much anyone that was part of the market found out about it, I will say that even if I had that amount of money, which I do not, I would never spend it this way, since that is an amount money you could use to have way more fun than just staring a piece of paper on your wall.

[PrivacyG]

Those are people that have so much money they do not really know what to do with it anymore, and while at the time this moment became an icon and pretty much anyone that was part of the market found out about it, I will say that even if I had that amount of money, which I do not, I would never spend it this way, since that is an amount money you could use to have way more fun than just staring a piece of paper on your wall.

I would MAYBE spend a million Dollars on it if I had at least a Billion Dollars under my name.  But even then it would still be an insane waste of Money.

I will not be surprised if the guy decides to make about a hundred more signs and put them all up for auction again.  Now I REALLY wonder, what would of been the price of this piece of paper if it was the actual original, still attached to the note book?  Ten million?  A hundred?  This is crazy.

[legendbtc]

Those are people that have so much money they do not really know what to do with it anymore, and while at the time this moment became an icon and pretty much anyone that was part of the market found out about it, I will say that even if I had that amount of money, which I do not, I would never spend it this way, since that is an amount money you could use to have way more fun than just staring a piece of paper on your wall.

I would MAYBE spend a million Dollars on it if I had at least a Billion Dollars under my name.  But even then it would still be an insane waste of Money.

I will not be surprised if the guy decides to make about a hundred more signs and put them all up for auction again.  Now I REALLY wonder, what would of been the price of this piece of paper if it was the actual original, still attached to the note book?  Ten million?  A hundred?  This is crazy.

We still don't know the real motive behind that act of buying a piece of paper for 16BTC, so don't rush to judge that they are wasting their money or spending it unwisely. Rich people always have reasons to spend money, they are not stupid enough to buy it just for entertainment or to receive ridicule from others. I can't imagine what he would do with that piece of paper, but I believe he definitely had some intention with it so he dared to spend a large amount of money to own it. We are people who have never owned a large amount of money and have never been in their position, so there is no need to rush to criticize what they are doing.