One man has had to endure the regrettable experience of losing millions of Bitcoin in an errant tech mishap.
Jered Kenna, a former United States Marine, bought 5,000 tokens when the cryptocurrency was worth 20 cents per coin in 2010.
Just 15 years later, a single BTC is worth just under $120k.
Kenna invested $1,000 back then and launched Tradehill, one of the first crypto exchanges in the U.S., in 2011. At its peak, the company handled around 20 percent of all BTC trades in the world.
While he was still very wealthy, he could have had significantly more money had he not accidentally wiped 800 BTC from his computer shortly after his initial investment. The mistake only cost him $160 at the time, which he could have shrugged off.
He wasn’t all that upset as he “had plenty more.”
Still, he’s never going to be able to get them back, which sucks, given that they’re worth a whopping $95,286,880 now.
As if the above wasn’t bad enough, Kenna was also the victim of a costly hack in 2016. A bad actor bought a phone in his name, changed his email passwords, and stole millions from him in seconds.
The theft left him worse for wear both physically and financially as the shock of it all sent him to the hospital, and he’s been on blood pressure meds ever since.
“The hack took my entire life,” he said.
Kenna was planning to relaunch his crypto exchange at the time, with licensing issues having put Tradehill on pause.
He is done with the crypto business, although he retains half a Bitcoin, now worth $60, and some XRP.
He plans to launch what he says will be Colombia’s biggest independent craft brewer, which would be quite the pivot.
Thankfully, he sold half of his BTC to invest in the brewery before the hack.
