Story
Sam bought Bitcoin because his friend Ross Ulbricht got arrested
Sam's origin story for buying Bitcoin: he was friendly with Ross Ulbricht (later revealed as the Silk Road founder) and was sitting near coworker Billy Draper when Ross was arrested. Billy said his dad thought Bitcoin would be huge, so Sam bought it on that tip.
“I was friends, friendly with Ross Ulbricht. Oh, and when he was arrested, I didn't know that that's who he was. And I was sitting next to my coworker and I go, Billy, my guy Ross just got arrested. You heard of this thing called Silk Road? And Billy, his last name is Billy Draper. Oh, okay. And he was like, yeah, my dad said that Bitcoin is like going to be the coolest thing ever. And I said, sounds good to me. I'll go and buy it.”
Story
Silk Road ran with 10 fully anonymous employees
Sam, citing the book American Kingpin, notes that Silk Road (an eBay-for-drugs paid in Bitcoin) ran with roughly 10 full-time employees who were all anonymous, never videoed, never knew each other's real names, and paid in Bitcoin.
“And because of the nature of the business, I think they had 10 full-time employees. All anonymous, never videoed, never knew the real name, paid via Bitcoin anonymously. And it worked out, it seemed.”
Number
Silk Road moved $2B in two years
Shaan recounts that Silk Road, the online marketplace 'like eBay but for drugs,' sold $2 billion of merchandise in only two years under sole owner Ross Ulbricht, who held roughly $10 billion in Bitcoin at later prices.
$2000M
Silk Road merchandise sales over two years · USD
“it sold $2 billion worth of merchandise in only 2 years. And Ross was the sole owner. And now if we look at Bitcoin price, he had roughly $10 billion in Bitcoin”