I learned about Bitcoin in 2012 when they were worth about $3. I saw the potential in the technology and invested even though I was young. The market has always been volatile so I invested conservatively and I educated myself on security. I had about 21 bitcoins at one point, some held online at sites like Mt.Gox, but most I kept in my own encrypted wallet on my laptop. This was and still is the most secure way to hold bitcoin.
I was a teenager and lived with my mother, who had been an alcoholic for years. I never told her about bitcoin because, frankly, her drinking has made her too simple to understand even relatively complex topics. I worked from home at the time (still do, for a different company), and my laptop was my work computer as well. She had her own computer and I had asked her many times not to use mine, but she always did anyways.
I was out with friends on a day off, when I get a call from her. She sounds drunk and angry. She tells me I need to come home right now, but won't tell me why. When I get home I find that my laptop had been utterly drenched in wine, destroyed beyond repair. Bitcoin had recently hit $1,000 and I had about 12.5 BTC stored on the wallet. Should I have had it backed up to an external hard drive? Yes, that is my biggest regret. But I was young and not as careful as I should have been. My mother paid for a new computer so I could work, but I never told her about the bitcoin. She had attempted suicide in the past and I thought if she knew the magnitude of what she did she wouldn't be able to live with herself.
But I stopped speaking to her entirely. I sold what was left of my online cache and moved out as soon as I could. I moved into an apartment with next to nothing. I worked hard and now I have an okay job and decent career prospects... But if I still had that 12.5 BTC it would be worth more than two years salary. Every time I've thought about bitcoin since then, my heart drops. The feeling of despair is indescribable. I haven't been able to bring myself to reinvest even though I knew the value was going up.
I've thought about suing her but the statute of limitations have passed, and I couldn't prove in court that I had them stored on the computer. I could prove that I started investing in 2012, I could show my online posts and guides that showed I was passionate about Bitcoin, but I couldn't prove that the data stored on the laptop had value. And I don't think a jury where I live would side with a young adult suing his mother.
She still doesn't know and I haven't spoken to her in years. Honestly the way she neglected me as a child is worse than the money being gone. I'm thinking about writing her a letter and telling her. I think she deserves to know.
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