- A hastily written “Buy Bitcoin” sign captured during former Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen’s hearing in 2017 was bought for over $1 million at an auction.
The Bitcoin Sign Guy
A simple “Buy Bitcoin” scribbled on a pad of yellow paper unexpectedly became the center of attention during then-Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen’s televised Congressional testimony in 2017. As shown in the photo above, it was flashed right in time when the camera focused on the ex-US central bank chief.
Christian Langalis, who was an intern at Cato Institute back then, was the person responsible for the photobombing incident, which caused him to get escorted out of the House Financial Services inquiry. Little did he and the people in attendance know that the stunt would become an iconic moment as the sign unexpectedly became the rallying cry of the Bitcoin community. It also resulted in the young intern’s fame as he was rechristened by the legion of crypto supporters as the “Bitcoin Sign Guy.”
In an attempt to cash in on his fame years ago, Langalis placed the iconic yellow pad for auction at Scarce City. According to Bloomberg, the item tagged “Ink Drawing on Legal Pad” eventually sold for 16 BTC or over $1 million at the sale’s prevailing exchange rates.
The winning bid came from a guy named Justin with the alias “Squirrekkywrath” on the platform. Langalis is set to net around $875,000 or around 13.6 BTC after the 15% commission of Scarce City is taken out.
The source claimed Langalis plans to use the sale’s proceeds to establish a Bitcoin software project.
BTC’s Humble Beginnings
Back then Bitcoin traded around $2,300, so the event likewise serves as a callback to the humble beginnings of the crypto asset. During that time, the largest crypto by market cap was only one year past its second halving cycle which rewarded miners in its ecosystem 12.5 BTC per block. Since then, the digital asset has undergone two more halvings: one in November 2020 and the last one in April this year.
The road to the latest halving paved the way to an all-time high (ATH) of $73,750.07 per BTC on March 14, 2024, as the mining rewards were cut from the third epoch’s 6.25 BTC per block to the 3.125 BTC we have now. We are yet to see how the new cycle triggered on April 20 will usher in a new ATH for BTC, but seasoned crypto analysts are already eyeing a possible top of $100K by year-end and $200K by 2025.
As of this writing at 6:50 AM UTC on Thursday, Bitcoin is trading at $64,300. Despite being over 12% down from its ATH last month, it has shown remarkable recoveries within the week at nearly 5% and a whopping 134% gain in a year.
Since the Bitcoin Sign Guy’s stunt, the digital currency has grown by a mindblowing $62,000 or an astonishing 2,695%.