Chief Bitcoin Miner’s Secret Stash: 250 BTC and a Dash of Humility

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In a recent social media post, David Schwartz, the chief technology officer at Ripple, let the cat out of the bag about his Bitcoin mining escapades. It turns out, the man has mined a grand total of 250 Bitcoins during the cryptocurrency’s salad days. 🍽️

This revelation came after a user shared a picture of Schwartz donning a red “Bitcoin miner” T-shirt, looking every bit the part of a crypto cowboy. 🤠

Schwartz first dipped his toe into the Bitcoin pond back in 2011, a time when the enigmatic Satoshi Nakamoto had already bid the crypto world a fond farewell. “I bought it from someone who advertised on an early bitcoin forum. It was just cool to use bitcoin to buy something,” Schwartz reminisced, with a twinkle in his eye. 🌟

Fast forward to 2023, and the Ripple executive admitted that he wished he had stumbled upon the cryptocurrency a bit earlier. “I never got to see the price of BTC plummet to a mere $2.50. What a missed opportunity for a good laugh!” he quipped. 😂

When Schwartz started mining Bitcoin, it was already worth around $30, according to his latest post on X. “A veritable fortune in those days, I assure you,” he added, with a flourish. 🎩

Last April, Schwartz revealed that he had sold his Bitcoin holdings to invest in XRP and Ethereum (ETH). “Diversification is the spice of life, after all,” he mused. 🌶️

There was also some (rather whimsical) speculation about Schwartz being the elusive Satoshi Nakamoto. However, he has been quick to squash such rumors. “I have almost the entire skill set needed to have been Satoshi. It’s certainly plausible that I was part of a group. But, nevertheless, it’s not true. I didn’t find out about Bitcoin until 2011,” Schwartz tweeted back in 2021, with a shrug. 🤷‍♂️

Schwartz has been a vocal critic of Bitcoin, often pointing out its high energy consumption and the scalability issues that come with its proof-of-work (PoW) consensus algorithm. “It’s like trying to boil the ocean with a teaspoon,” he once remarked. 🌊

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2025-07-06 11:15