How I Lost A Fortune (And Gained An Incredible Life)

in #writing5 years ago (edited)

It was the height of the last cryptocurrency bull market in late of 2017 and coins were rocketing up faster than people could even comprehend. I had gotten into a coin, then called Raiblocks (now called Nano), several months before when it was trading for pennies.

At the time, there weren't many exchanges that allowed you to trade Raiblocks. The exchange with the most volume (and best prices) was called Bitgrail, based in Italy. I'll never forget the day it happened, I was in the back of a taxi cab in New York City when my phone started going completely haywire with notifications. Raiblocks had breached the $15 per coin mark!
I immediately rushed back to my Airbnb in Brooklyn, opened my laptop, and started selling. I continued doing this for several days. Raiblocks just kept growing in price, reaching a peak of around $28. Bitgrail was known for being a little "glitchy", but many of the exchanges were back then, this was way before most people even had heard about Bitcoin.

Bitgrail limited the amount of Bitcoin that you could transfer out of your exchange wallet to three in a twenty-four hour period. I had applied for the next level of verification so I could transfer more at a time but the exchange had been stuck in their review process for weeks. So, like clockwork, I took my proceeds from the Raiblocks sales and was transferring the maximum amount of Bitcoin I could every day.

About a week-and-a-half into this process of feverishly selling I had amassed a backlog of 73 Bitcoin in the Bitgrail wallet that I couldn't transfer off of the exchange due to their daily transfer limits. A few days later they locked all of their wallets permanently and announced the exchange was hacked and the thieves had stolen more than $175 million worth of Raiblocks. I had instantly lost the equivalent of almost a million dollars.


“When you win, you don't examine it very much, except to congratulate yourself. You easily, and wrongly, assume it has something to do with your rare qualities as a person. But winning only measures how hard you've worked and how physically talented you are; it doesn't particularly define you beyond those characteristics.

Losing on the other hand, really does say something about who you are. Among other things it measures are: do you blame others, or do you own the loss? Do you analyze your failure, or just complain about bad luck?

If you're willing to examine failure, and to look not just at your outward physical performance, but your internal workings, too, losing can be valuable. How you behave in those moments can perhaps be more self-defining than winning could ever be. Sometimes losing shows you for who you really are.” ― Lance Armstrong, Every Second Counts


At the time my corporate salary was in the low-$40k range and my book sales were meager at best. I had instantly lost more money than I thought I would ever make in my life, I was devastated.

I'm part of a class-action lawsuit with thousands of other claimants who lost money on Bitgrail. It's been dragging on for several years now. The Italian courts in Florence keep changing the rules for the claimants and pushing back hearing dates. With each month that passes I lose a little more hope that I'll see a refund of any significance. The emotions associated with this are a weird cocktail of anger, embarrassment, garnished with million "what ifs." I sometimes think about how different my life would be now if that wallet wasn't locked.

People in the crypto sphere always say....never leave coins on an exchange, if you don't own the keys, you don't own the coins...and I get it. But there are instances like this where it's not as black and white as that. That kind of wealth, made so quickly, is dizzying and disorienting. Especially back then, investors didn't have many choices for exchanges. If you wanted the reward you sometimes had to take the risk. I gambled and lost big.

Losing that kind of wealth will, very quickly, make you realize the stuff you're made of. The experience was character-building. I, like so many others, had to keep getting up day after day and make the most of what I had left.

There are only two choices: 1) Give up; or 2) rebuild.

Even still, all things considered, I'm thankful for cryptocurrency and blockchain technology and the wonderful communities of individuals behind it. Every sector has its bad apples. Despite the predators, the exit scams, and the hacks, I’ll be the first to tell you there are many more good people than bad in this space. These good people are changing the world, for the better, a little more each day. Exposure to and connection with these people in crypto-community have brought many more blessings than curses into my life. You simply can't put a price on that. I can't imagine going back to my pre-blockchain life.

These past few years have been like a master class in life itself. What I’ve learned is dreams don't always turn out exactly like we think they will. A sizable portion of what happens to us is beyond our control. How we react to the things that are beyond our control are as important as the goals we set. I’ve come to realize that relationships are far more important than any coin or dollars ever could be. This is why I still get up in the morning, most days, with hope and a smile. This is why I continue to create, learn, why I keep sharing my stories and ideas.

This is precisely why I'm here.

With Gratitude,
~Eric Vance Walton~


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*I am an American novelist, poet, traveler, and crypto-enthusiast. If you’ve enjoyed my work please sign up for my author newsletter at my website. Newsletter subscribers will receive exclusive updates and special offers and your information will never be sold or shared.

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A blessing in disguise I'm sure. Still, it reminded me of my own journey investing in several failed projects in the 2013 era. Without the huge amounts of risk, the asymmetrical potential rewards wouldn't be there either..

Here's to winning another crypto lottery 🍻

Amen. There are tons of opportunities during every new market cycle, this one seems a little different than previous ones though. I still think a very good bull run is coming.

Interesting experience and we’re blessed to have you on this platform!

any you probably did good with the part you managed to transfer :) but it must suck really bad when you have 1mil$ and it is gone in seconds. even the price drops for people that have a bigger amount of coins must feel really weird. first example is right here. there are people that 2 years ago had 2.5mil in steem and now it is 100.000.

I was able to pay off a lot of debt accrued during the 2008 Housing Crisis and do some traveling, which was amazing.

These past few years have been tough on everyone in crypto. I have a feeling those who stick around will be very happy they did.

all my investment was in steem, and even that is really small, especially if you compare it to US or EU countries standard. and i have maybe 300$ in BTC. the thing that you did with that coin i would never do, because i would not even know where to start and look for something like that :D

if steem goes up to where it was i will be happy, maybe not very happy but happy for sure :) especially because when i registered i never thought it will be possible for me to own 5000 steem.

What part of the world are you from? I think dollar cost averaging into BTC, buying a little at a time on a regular basis, will pay off big in the end. They say there isn't enough BTC for each millionaire in the world to even own a tenth of one coin. Let's hope we see some great things happen here on this platform and the price of Steem rises significantly. This community is hardcore and has stuck with the platform during so many roller coaster rides! Best of luck to you!

I used friends/families slow laptops to mine BTC back in the day and had 11 BTC, which i used to buy a new bed when moving as I had near to no savings... At least now I'm fine but it would of been great to cash that out too! :D

Live and learn and dealing with loss is a great lesson of strength
even if its just money :D

Wow, 11 BTC mined from old laptops is incredible! I’m glad you were able to put the proceeds to good use too.

Wow how did you even stumbled upon Nano? What made you bought it when it was in pennies? You couldve earn so much...

I was into a lot of different smaller start-up coins back then and Nano (then XRB) was one that really paid off. I still believe in the tech and the team.

I see. I bought different kind of coins too. Nothing made it :( Even substratum went to trash.

I'm sorry to hear that! I hope the next bull run is luckier for you.

I also lost around a quarter million during 2017, some to a hack and some to the crypto crash. I was gutted for a long time bro! I blame no one but my self, the worst is the ridicule you get from friends and family. Some dont even believe my story lol its brutal

Oh man, I'm sorry to hear that! Try, as best you can, to look forward and not dwell on the loss or blame yourself. That is the only way to get over it. This has taught me only thing we truly "own" is our story and our experiences. Writing this piece has helped me to get over the loss a little more. I wish you well, @cyberblock, here's to better luck during this next bull run!

Wow, that is horrible! I am sorry you had to go through that. I bet that is a position that tons of people wish they were in but with better outcomes. Whenever I sign up for a new exchange I usually try to get to the highest tier right away. I figure that way if I do make a lot of money I am safe to move it out to my other wallets. I am sure you probably do that now too. I know a lot of people don't like the KYC but my opinion has always been if I make 1m dollars, the tax man can take their cut. It is still 600k more than I originally had or whatever the tax rate is...

Thank you @bozz! That’s a smart plan to get verified for the highest amount right out of the gate. I have no issues with KYC either. You can’t hide from the IRS. Lol.

Death and taxes...

Hi Eric, I am happy reading your post again after you have been vacuum for a while. Experience is the best teacher. Make so much loss to motivate you, sir. I think you should forget the sad feelings of loss and get back up with enthusiasm. good luck to you, sir. Have a nice day.

Hi Eliana! It's always good to hear from you. I hope you enjoy the week!

life > fortune

You've got that right @kingscrown. As long as you have life, you can begin again.

Thank you for sharing your story with us. It is very sobering, it is good to know that your attitude was the best, you knew how to face the loss.

You're welcome! Thanks for your comment!