The Ultimate Photo-bomb - and a $1,000,000 Payday
"Buy Bitcoin"
It was the afternoon of July 12, 2017. At about 2:28 PM in Washington, DC.
Fed Chair Janet Yellen was testifying in front of a congressional committee on financial services regarding the state of the US economy and its monetary policy. Not many seats were available to witness her testimony. But Christian Langalis scored a prime seat. Right behind Yellen, in plain view of television cameras.
Langalis had recently graduated from Colgate University, in upstate New York, where he was a member of the sailing team and majored in economics. His LinkedIn profile indicates that he has founded several ventures related to Bitcoin, but during July of 2017 he was living in Washington, DC, working for the Cato Institute. Cato is a “think tank,” and Langalis was performing research into, yes, Bitcoin, for the institute.
Fed monetary policy had been increasing the money supply by vast amounts, and devaluing the currency, for several years. Bitcoiners, of course, believe in a currency with a fixed supply. And they want to get their message out.
Langalis had a plan. He made his simple sign on a yellow notepad. All it said was “Buy Bitcoin,” using a Bitcoin symbol for the second “B.”
His smile said it all. He had pulled off an unbelievable photo-bomb. Within minutes, the price of Bitcoin surged 3.7% to over $2,400 per coin.
And Christian Langalis became known as the “Bitcoin Sign Guy.”
Langalis was quickly ushered out of the room, for violating committee hearing rules. But it was done. The image went viral. And a friend of his wanted to help Langalis cash in on his fame, in a small way. The friend posted a picture of the sign, and also displayed Langalis’ Bitcoin wallet address.
Donations poured in, as Bitcoiners congratulated him for his stunt. He quickly collected over 6 Bitcoins, worth about $15,000 at the time. (They’d be worth over $380,000 now.) At Langalis’ request, the friend soon took the photo down, however.
Time to Really Cash In
Fast forward to 2024. Bitcoin’s popularity has grown immensely. Fifty million Americans own some Bitcoin. Major investment banks are offering spot Bitcoin ETFs to their customers. And Bitcoin’s market cap has surged past $1 trillion. That’s bigger than Berkshire Hathaway.
And “Bitcoin Sign Guy” is more popular than ever. Langalis arranged to sell his now-famous yellow notepad sign in an auction through the firm Scarce City. The auction began online, then after a week, ended in an in-person bidding at PubKey, a Bitcoin-themed bar in New York City. The bar is at Washington Place and Sixth Avenue in Greenwich Village, if you want to check it out. It’s a stone’s throw from Washington Square Park.
So how much were collectors willing to bid for the iconic “photo-bomb sign?”
A lot. The official selling price was reportedly over 16 Bitcoins. That was worth about $1,025,000 this week. After deducting Scarce City’s 15% commission, Langalis should net about $875,000. Before taxes, of course.
It was the largest item Scarce City had ever auctioned. The buyer’s full name was not revealed publicly, but he is known to be a Bitcoin advocate who goes by the handle “Squirrekkywrath.”
According to Langalis, proceeds from the auction will go to fund a Bitcoin layer-2 startup he has launched, called Tirrel Corp.
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Issue No. 134, April 26, 2024
Rick Mulvey is a CPA, crypto consultant, and frequent contributor to Bitcoin Magazine. He writes about all things Bitcoin, and yells at the Yankees and Giants. He also runs marathons and makes wine, neither professionally.