Christian Langalis found himself sitting behind Janet Yellen during a congressional hearing in July 2017. This fortunate position could potentially earn him a significant profit of nearly $875,000, or 13.6 BTC, after the platform fee is deducted.
During an auction, a yellow notebook caught the attention of bidders as it displayed the words “Buy Bitcoin.” Surprisingly, the notepad had been placed behind then-Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen during a congressional hearing in 2017. The winning bidder, known as “Justin” or “Squirrekkywrath” on the Bitcoin auction platform Scarce City, purchased the notebook for over one million dollars worth of Bitcoin. The auction concluded on April 24 after running for a week.
The origin of the notebook can be traced back to Christian Langalis, who managed to sit behind Janet Yellen during the televised House Financial Services Committee hearing. Langalis seized the opportunity and quickly scribbled down the sign, which he then proudly displayed to the camera. However, since placards are prohibited during such hearings, Langalis was promptly removed after photobombing Yellen. As a direct result of Langalis’s sign, Bitcoin’s price surged by 3.7%, reaching $2,418, according to CNBC’s report at the time.
Langalis stands to make a substantial profit from this unexpected turn of events. After Scarce City deducts its 15% fee, he is expected to earn almost $875,000 or 13.6 BTC. Although the paper with the sign was initially removed from the notepad shortly after the hearing, it has since been reattached using clear archival wire.
In 2019, Langalis capitalized on the popularity of the sign and produced and sold 21 replicas. These replicas, which had an average selling price of 0.8 BTC (equivalent to approximately $51,300 now), can be viewed at the offices of various cryptocurrency-related entities such as Coin Center, Paradigm, Blockchain Capital, and Castle Island Ventures. Bloomberg reported that Langalis plans to use the proceeds from the most recent sale to contribute to a Bitcoin software project.
In other crypto news, BlackRock has denied having any commercial relationship with Hedera Hashgraph.