He turned 37 ETH into a Shiba Inu position that peaked at $5.7 billion, then walked away from his early Bitcoin rather than hand over his identity to a KYC form.
Shibtoshi is the masked crypto billionaire behind Squid Grow and Silent Swap. He first heard about Bitcoin in 2010, bought his first coins in a Vegas OTC deal to fund an online poker game (and got wiped out), and was buying Litecoin and Namecoin back when Bitcoin traded in single digits. In 2013 he walked away from his Paxful and LocalBitcoins accounts rather than KYC, and did not come back for that Bitcoin until 2019.
Ivan Patriki sits down with him to talk luck, privacy as a human right, the tax game of collateralizing crypto instead of selling, and why he will never take the mask off on camera.
We cover:
37 ETH into Shiba Inu, and a portfolio that touched $5.7 billion
The Vegas poker night that pulled him down the Bitcoin rabbit hole (he lost it all)
Buying Bitcoin at $10 with MoneyGram, Western Union, and cash in the mail
Why he walked away from his accounts rather than KYC in 2013
The exchanges that shut down right after he pulled his coins out
"There is a difference between a crypto billionaire and a fiat billionaire"
Would you have actually held Bitcoin from $10 to $100K?
If he had to start over today: pour everything into AI
The arrogant-rich-guy phase, and why nobody likes it
Silent Swap: $2.5 billion in volume and cross chain private swaps
Why Monero is great until the second you leave its network
"There's nothing we could give anybody" (why records don't exist)
The Ledger co founder kidnapping and the three severed fingers
Collateralize your Bitcoin at $250K instead of paying 40% capital gains
Does anyone actually know who runs the financial system?
RESOURCES & LINKS:
Silent Swap: https://www.silentswap.com/
Squid Grow: https://www.squidgrow.com/
MORE OF SHIBTOSHI:
Twitter: https://x.com/Shibtoshi_SG
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/shibtoshi_sg/
MORE OF ON THE MARGIN:
Website: https://www.themargin.tv
Spotify:
Main Site: https://www.on-the-margin.com
MORE OF BOAZ SOBRADO:
Twitter: https://x.com/sobradob
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sobradob
Website: https://themargin.tv/boaz-sobrado
MORE OF IVAN PATRIKI:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/artizt
Substack: https://substack.com/@artizt
Twitter: https://x.com/Ivan_patriki
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/artizt/?hl=en
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@ascended
Telegram: https://t.me/ivanpatriki
Timestamps:
00:00 - The masked crypto billionaire.
00:34 - Crypto billionaire vs fiat billionaire, and the 5.7 billion screenshot.
01:22 - Vegas 2011: the poker night that started it all.
03:06 - Buying Bitcoin with Western Union and cash in the mail.
05:44 - Who were the real early Bitcoin adopters?
07:34 - Would you have actually held from $10 to $100K?
09:18 - Walking away rather than KYC in 2013.
10:19 - Luck, the 2008 crash, and self custody as freedom.
12:52 - If he had to start over: all in on AI.
15:43 - Logging back in and seeing the balance in 2019.
19:14 - Namecoin, Litecoin, and Charlie Lee.
22:02 - NFTs, staking phases, and why privacy is next.
25:44 - Building Squid Grow for friends and family.
26:08 - Bubble Maps, wallet tracking, and the birth of Silent Swap.
30:04 - The business model and why crypto is not actually private.
31:45 - Why not just use Monero?
34:55 - Trafficking, compliance, and the Tornado Cash overturn.
37:51 - Does the government have an Apple backdoor?
38:34 - St. Lucia, non custodial, and "there's nothing to give".
43:19 - The blingy gold mask persona.
44:05 - The billionaires among us that nobody knows.
48:00 - The Ledger co founder kidnapping and three severed fingers.
50:12 - Going to conferences masked and staying anonymous.
51:07 - Four year cycles and why crypto is not dead.
53:28 - Collateralizing Bitcoin at $250K instead of paying tax.
54:56 - Did the mask stifle his career?
58:34 - AI, privacy, and the next ten years of crypto.
01:01:45 - Silent Swap, YZI Labs residency, and the BNB Chain partnership.
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