Reddit Co-founder Acknowledges $84M Ethereum Investments, Citing Generational Trauma as His Key Driver

Reddit co-founder, Alexis Ohanian, declared that he bought 50,000 ETH worth $15,000 in 2014. Going by the current prices, the amount is equivalent to $84M, an increase of more than 500,000% since the purchase. According to Alexis, his family’s history is one factor that spiked his interest in digital currencies, NFTs, blockchain, and many more.

How a Family History Changed Everything

In his interview with Forbes, Alexis shared a little history about his ancestors and how past events led him to the crypto industry. At the time, nearly 1.5M people died in a tragic genocide, and Turkish soldiers stole valuable Armenian assets. The Reddit co-founder then discovered the importance of exploring unseizable properties.

Based on his history, Ohanian is now a big supporter of self-custody as a means of retaining assets. He admits that he practices self-custody by maintaining his private keys and keeping them away from exchanges and governments.

The Reddit co-founder now owns a venture capitalist firm known as 776. He launched this firm in 2020 using the returns he got from investing in Ethereum and Coinbase. In 2022, the firm raised $500M to fund crypto-related startups.

Alexis Discovers Ethereum, Bitcoin, and Coinbase

Alexis was first introduced to Bitcoin by a group of Redditors. The group explained to him an innovative coin that requires no intermediaries and can bypass the current financial regime. Moreover, the asset only requires a private key to prove ownership. However, the mechanism for storing these keys is challenging, forcing users to leverage third parties to store assets.

According to Alexis, the biggest issue wasn’t government seizure but the security of platforms like exchanges. During that time, Mt Gox exchange lost almost $500M to hackers. The event pushed crypto investors to look for safer exchanges that can hold their assets.

Alexis was then introduced to Coinbase, a compliant exchange capable of storing assets safely. In one of the Coinbase meetings, he began to hear about Ethereum, which has unseizable features like Bitcoin. He saw immense potential for Ethereum, where developers can create unseizable assets like NFTs. Within no time, he decided to buy ETH in 2014 after evaluating the blockchain’s potential in the digital asset economy.

Investing in the Crypto Winter

Overall, Alexis believes that people can take advantage of a bearish market to secure their future. He argues that investors can obtain digital assets at discounted prices since the market is vulnerable. Such generational consciousness is what keeps him committed to the digital currency industry.