The bitcoin community has raised more than $1.6 million or highly respected bitcoin and security expert Andreas Antonopoulos, who has spent the past several years educating the masses about bitcoin.
For those who claim #bitcoin community is divided, the bitcoin community raised over $700,000 for @aantonop, who has worked tirelessly over the past three years to educate the masses about bitcoin.
Bitcoin community is supportive, vibrant, and active. https://t.co/9XgKsFT9bz
— Joseph Young (
@iamjosephyoung) December 7, 2017
For many years, Antonopoulos attended countless events, conferences, and meetups to introduce bitcoin to the masses, and educate newcomers in bitcoin and the cryptocurrency market.
On December 3, 2016, at the Coinscrum conference hosted by Imperial College in London, England, Antonopoulos revealed that despite being one of the most influential and active speakers, teachers, and educators within the cryptocurrency industry, he still had some debt in US dollars.
But, Antonopoulos emphasized that he has dedicated virtually every aspect of his professional career and intellectual capacity in bitcoin, and that money was the least of the investment he had made in bitcoin.
“My small savings that I do have are invested in bitcoin. 100 percent [of it]. I actually have a tiny debt in US dollars that I’m still trying to pay off so it is more than 100 percent in bitcoin. Now, I’d like to emphasize again, that is not a recommendation to invest. Because I haven’t invested by money in bitcoin, I invested my career, my intellectual capacity, my creativity energy, my passion, and my work in bitcoin. The money is the least of the investment that I have made in bitcoin and I could lose everything of it and I’d still have everything else,” said Antonopoulos.
On December 5, early-stage bitcoin investor Roger Ver publicly stated that if Antonopoulos had invested $300 in 2012, he’d be a millionaire today. In response, Antonopoulos explained that he had sold bitcoin he owned to pay his rent, given that he had worked for two consecutive years without pay and disposable income.
“I did invest, Roger. Then I sold in 2013 to pay my rent. I didn’t have disposable income to work for two years without pay and invest at the same time. I should’ve gone into more debt, but that would have been irresponsible towards my family who I supported,” said Antonopoulos.
Ver’s statement led the entire bitcoin community to encourage bitcoin supporters to support Antonopoulos. Within 48 hours, the bitcoin community raised more than $1.6 million for Antonopoulos.
Antonopoulos did not have any disposable income to invest $300 in 2012 as Ver said. But, he had invested his career, intellectual capacity, passion, work, and creative energy in bitcoin, which has been proven be larger than financial investment. The bitcoin community Antonopoulos has served for many years, without financial incentive, has took it upon themselves to send donations to Antonopoulos, although he never asked for it.
In a statement, Antonopoulos also noted that Ver was one of the many figures in the bitcoin community who helped him to obtain his first paying work in bitcoin.
“Dozens of people supported me back then, many from the bitcoin community. Roger himself helped me get my first paying work in bitcoin. Let’s keep things respectful,” said Antonopoulos.