Tales From Bitcointalk: How I Got This Key Chain #4
I know you must be thinking: "How can a story about a key chain possibly be interesting?". Well, I can assure you that a lot had to happen in order for me to have received this small token of appreciation (the key-chain). It's a pretty inspiring story to say the least.
A Call for Help
Back in June 2014, someone by the name of 'DobZombie' posted a message on the BitcoinTalk Lending board, asking for a loan because his website, The Bitcoin was recently hacked. He had lost about 14 Bitcoin, which he had planned on using for his upcoming wedding.
Keep in mind that back in 2014, one Bitcoin was only worth around 600 USD. Still, he was asking strangers on the internet for more than 8000 USD, with just a promise to pay it back after a couple of months. Who would give money in that scenario?
DobZombie did provide a lot of information to verify his story and identity, but still... It was a lot of money and no absolute guarantees that it would ever be paid back.
The Community Response
The BitcoinTalk community came through bigtime. The full 14 BTC was loaned, with one generous person lending him 10 Bitcoins (6000 USD). I also contributed 0.50 BTC, which was around 200 USD at the time. I actually fully expected to see the money back, as crazy as that may sound. It just seemed like the right thing to do.
DobZombie ended up paying everybody back well within time and sent out these key-chains to people that had helped him. It's probably my oldest piece of Bitcoin memorabilia and my most precious one, because of the story that's attached to it.
I don't think it's worth anything, DobZombie's website no longer exists and it was never a really big hit. I'd be pretty upset if I ever lost that key-chain though.
Conclusion
I really liked the Bitcoin community back then, I still do now but it's different. Everybody was on BitcoinTalk in those days and you didn't have all this division with certain altcoin communities.
I can recognize certain aspects of how it used to be, here on Steemit. I've seen similar initiatives here to help people out and they have massive support. Steemit is still a fairly tight-knit community, which probably won't last forever...
Enjoy it while it lasts!
Sources
- 1st image created by @daan using pixabay image as background; Modified using Gimp
- Additional images are screenshots from this thread on BitcoinTalk forums.
Series Backlinks
- Tales from Bitcointalk Forum - Lending in The Early Days of Bitcoin
- Tales from BitcoinTalk: Guide to Earning BTC by Posting
- Tales from Bitcointalk: Guide to Earning Merits
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Nice story.. you are very trusting. even then .5 of a BTC was no pocket change.
Well, not as trusting as the guy who loaned 10 BTC :P
It was a different time back then! With a smaller community, it really was a more trusting place. However, with the potential for big money and a much larger community, it really is better to be on your guard... A pity, but human nature.
It is a lovely story though, it is a great memory of a past age!
Giving out 14BTC and not knowing if you guys would ever see the money back! That takes a huge leap of faith! Glad he paid back with keychain interest!
Such an interesting read and I agree some of the attitude and support that was there , well from what I have read I wasnt into it then myself is still prevalent in Steemit and I hope it only grows
Good to know that the fellow was an honest guy and did repay his loans that he borrowed. You should be proud since it showed your were a good judge of character in this case. Nice story, nerd.
Great story, It is beautiful to see that there are still people like you who are willing to believe and support others in extreme moments. Your keychain looks cooler after telling the story.
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@daan more articles will be?
@daan This was an intriguing story. I'm still new to the entire cryptocurrency, but for you to have loaned a complete stranger money for his wedding shows what type of person you are. Very inspiring and truly a great human being! I hope you will always have your keychain and never lose it!
That's a pretty cool keychain. It is always nice to have something with a bottle opener on it. Can't get much more handy than that!