Thread by @ColeSouth

here's a CRAZY story about a post on a niche internet subforum that resulted in at least one billionaire (yes with a *B*), and several deca-millionaire degenerates...

Subject: Bitcoins - digital currency
04-02-2011, 02:44 AM
"Any value to this idea or will it never work?"

from 2000-2015, the Two Plus Two poker forums were the primary hangout for professional poker players. i made countless friends through 2+2.

it's hard to overstate how busy these forums were. 24/7 there was a ton of activity discussing everything from poker hands to politics.

one of my favorite subcategories on 2+2 was "Business Finance and Investing"

BFI had posts about everything from real estate to day trading.

on April 2nd, 2011 the legendary "Bitcoins - digital currency" thread was started...

"Any value to this idea or will it never work?"

by the time this thread was posted, I was a BFI regular and had a lot of respect for the regulars' advice on business and investing.

i specifically remember coming home from a vacation, firing up 2+2 and seeing the Bitcoin thread...

it already had several hundred replies.

i read the first page or two. it seemed a little crazy, and it already had soooo many replies. catching up to the recent activity would take a few hours.

i thought to myself "eh i dunno if i want to read through pages and pages of this, next topic"

HUGE mistake lol

to invest in Bitcoin in 2011, you needed to possess an odd overlap of interests in:

math
economics
technology
politics

and a willingness to fire $ at crazy things on the internet...

online poker pros were perfectly suited for this

of course, there was plenty of debate both for and against Bitcoin.

here are a few of my favorite bear posts...

"What the ****?" 😂

one forum regular posted:

"Can somebody send me a pittance on 1KD5XJy1RVrokUWQ4AR7mh5Nw1MZDeekdt ?"

they were promptly sent 5.67 BTC by others in the thread to play around with (now worth about $220k 😆)

reading the early posts in this thread, the foresight this group of degens had is so impressive.

many of the predictions on how Bitcoin would play out are eerily accurate.

people were setting up mining rigs and trading. they became early adopters of NFTs, Defi, and more.

i don't want to blow up anyone's spot... but there are a few people from this poker era that amassed a STAGGERING amount of Bitcoin (3 commas worth for sure).

it's no surprise that many of the top traders, investors, and thought leaders of Crypto have a background in poker.

venture capitalist @pmarca has a saying like [poorly paraphrased] "invest in what the nerds do on nights and weekends"

being part of BFI and firing into Bitcoin at 70 cents is a perfect example.

also a good example of one of my favorite life principles: "luck is a skill" 🎲

be curious. be open minded. surround yourself with those who are

sometimes i've done this well. sometimes i haven't. like passing on Bitcoin at 70 cents 🤣

luckily, 2 years later i got a second chance when the first BTC poker sites opened up. another crazy story for another day

i still keep in touch with plenty of poker players who read this thread in 2011. some bought BTC, some didn't.

imo, the moral of the story is: be curious and shoot your shot when opportunities present.

you have to take action. can't sit on the sidelines. nothing is a sure bet.

the original "Bitcoins - digital currency" thread has 48,352 replies and over 4 million views.

you can take a look at this piece of poker and crypto history here:

forumserver.twoplustwo.com/30/business-fi…