Crazy Bitcoin Bet Settled by Former Coinbase CTO 45 Days Earlier
- Former Coinbase CTO Balaji Srinivasan has paid his Bitcoin wager with anonymous Twitter user James Medlock 45 days ahead of time.
- He paid Medlock over $500K, donated $500K to Bitcoin Core developers, and donated $500K to the non-profit charity Give Directly.
- “I’m not a trader, I’m not John McAfee, and I’m not in the habit of publicly burning a million bucks,” Balaji said.
- He said that he burned around $1.5 million to “send a provably costly signal that there’s something wrong with the economy.”
A crazy bet was placed on March 18, 2023, between former Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of crypto exchange Coinbase, Balaji Srinivasan, and pseudonymous Twitter user and self-titled “hyperinflation doubter” James Medlock. It is important to note that the wager has been closed by the former Coinbase executive 45 days earlier than the expiration date. Medlock believes that the economy of the United States will not enter a state of “hyperinflation,” while Balaji believes otherwise, noting that Bitcoin (BTC) will be the salvation.
As per a recent turn of events, Balaji stated that his bet with Medlock had been “closed out by mutual agreement” 45 days ahead of time. The former Coinbase executive paid Medlock over $500,000, along with donating $500,000 to Bitcoin Core developers. He also gave an additional $500,000 to the non-profit charity Give Directly, totaling his expenditure at $1.5 million.
To prove that he actually paid the three entities $500k each, he shared the on-chain links and revealed that there are still a few legal details that are to be discussed. “I’m not a trader, I’m not John McAfee, and I’m not in the habit of publicly burning a million bucks,” Balaji said while adding that he parted ways with the $1.5 million to prove that he wanted to bring everyone’s attention to the fact that the US authorities are printing trillions of dollars and pushing the economy closer to hyperinflation.
“I settled the bet ahead of time and donated even more than I had committed,” said the former Coinbase CTO while adding that the reason for paying his wager around $970K below his target price of $1 million per BTC was because he believes “in the public good” and citizens can no longer “rely on the public sector […] to tell us when something’s wrong.”
“I spent my own money to send a provably costly signal that there’s something wrong with the economy, and that it’s not going to be a ‘soft landing’ like Powell promises — but something much worse,” said Balaji.
After giving away a total of $1.5 million, the American entrepreneur and investor stated that he believes that Bitcoin will eventually rise as a prominent source of value as the US economy continues to print more and more money. Balaji believes that the US dollar’s worth will reduce as time passes and that the world’s largest cryptocurrency will sooner or later hit $1 million.
It is important to mention here that in March, Medlock tweeted that he would bet anyone $1 million to prove that the US would not enter a state of hyperinflation. Balaji replied that he would make that bet and claimed that BTC would reach $1 million in the next 90 days. However, the wager was closed around 45 days earlier.
As reported earlier by BitcoinWisdom, Miami Mayor Franciz X. Suarez said that, as per his beliefs, the prevailing crypto winter will soon be over while reaffirming his faith in Bitcoin. Suarez believes that the recent rise in popularity of AI is one of the major reasons why crypto will rise and the winter will end.
On the other hand, Blockstream CEO Adam Back believes that Bitcoin will hit a price tag of $10 million by 2032, reaching a market cap of $200 trillion. He added that this can only happen if the development of Bitcoin layer-2 technologies and wallet infrastructure is fast tracked.
A crypto journalist with over 3 years of experience in DeFi, NFT, metaverse, etc. Parth has worked with major media outlets in the crypto and finance world and has gained experience and expertise in crypto culture after surviving bear and bull markets over the years.
