Computer scientist Martti Malmi is one of the first supporters of Bitcoin. He was also one of the most active miners in the network in 2009-2010. However, by 2012, he had sold most of his coins.
The Bitcoin pioneer admitted on his Twitter account that he could have become a billionaire. Had he kept all his coins to this day, they would be worth $1.5 billion.
Miner Malmi Could Have Been Among the Richest BTC Billionaires
Malmi, a Finnish software developer colloquially known as “sirius-m,” was one of the most active and first-ever miners in the early days of Bitcoin.
While studying computer science at Aalto University, he helped Bitcoin’s pseudonymous founder Satoshi Nakamoto release the second version of Bitcoin software supporting Linux. Nakamoto developed the original Bitcoin software for Windows computers.
Between 2009 and 2011, Malmi mined 55,000 BTC, representing 0.25% of the asset’s 21 million supply, with a laptop. Today, he would be one of the 15 richest Bitcoin billionaires (including exchanges and large corporations).
He later left the project after Nakamoto disappeared but continued work on decentralized technologies.
Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao is estimated to be the highest BTC holder whose identity is known, holding $65 billion in crypto. Twins Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss reportedly hold about $4 billion in BTC each.
Malmi Has No Regrets
Despite being sold very early, the Bitcoin mined still earned the computer scientist quite a bit of money in 2012. He gradually sold off a large portion of his coins at prices ranging from $15 to $30.
“It’s a big deal that at the age of 22 you earned your own house.”
Martti’s comment comes nine years after his decision to sell more than 10,000 Bitcoins to buy his own home. He kept some of his coins after 2012 and is still an active HODLer.
Having founded the first Bitcoin community forum, which later became BitcoinTalk, the former miner now belongs to the 9,000-member Bitcoin group on LinkedIn. His last known post on BitcoinTalk was in 2012.
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