Ethan's job today was crystal clear—carry bags, hold bags, look at stuff!
It didn't take long before both his hands were completely occupied by shopping bags of every size plastered with various brand logos.
His arms felt like they were being strangled by ruthless shopping bag captors.
What made it WORSE was that his mom and sister seemed to have activated "unlimited stamina mode," moving between stores with endless energy, completely tireless.
"Mom... Em... can we take a break?"
Ethan felt his voice going hoarse:
"I'll buy you guys Starbucks?"
"How long have we even been shopping? You're a young guy—your stamina is THIS bad?"
Linda didn't even look back, holding up a cashmere sweater against Emily:
"Sweetie, this feels SO nice! It'll be perfect for winter in your program!"
"Yeah, it's really comfortable."
Emily responded softly, running her fingertips over the fabric.
Ethan looked at his energized mom and his still-perfectly-composed sister, and deeply suspected that women had been enhanced by alien technology.
Occasionally.
Emily would glance back at her little brother trailing behind, looking like death warmed over, like he was about to disintegrate into dust at any second.
A hint of barely suppressed amusement flickered in her cool eyes, but she quickly turned back and continued cooperating with their mom's selections.
Ethan caught that look:
"Accept your fate, bro. This is your life now."
Time in hell always moves incredibly slowly.
When Ethan felt like his arms had completely lost all sensation, Linda FINALLY checked the time with obvious reluctance.
She said with satisfaction:
"Alright, I guess we should wrap up. Great haul! Emily, you hungry? Let's go upstairs and grab some food!"
Ethan heard those words like divine intervention and almost dropped to his knees right there.
After hastily scarfing down a quick lunch at the food court on the top floor, Ethan realized time was running out.
Two o'clock sharp.
He made his excuse:
"Mom, Em, I actually have plans this afternoon! You guys take your time eating, I gotta run?"
Linda was enthusiastically planning outfit combinations with her new purchases and waved him off without even looking up:
"Go, go, don't be late."
Emily glanced at him and smiled gently:
"Yeah, go ahead!"
Ethan shot out of that mall like a rocket and immediately flagged down a cab.
"Coffee shop on Fifth and Main, please!"
The car merged into traffic.
Ethan leaned back in the seat, rubbing his sore arms and shoulders, the morning's exhaustion instantly replaced by intense anticipation.
The driver was a chatty uncle in his fifties with a thick regional accent. Seeing Ethan's tired appearance in the rearview mirror, he opened the conversation floodgates.
The uncle was VERY talkative—mostly he talked, Ethan listened.
"Young man, study hard! The world's gonna be yours someday. People my age, we're dinosaurs, can't keep up with the times!"
"My son's overseas right now, doing his master's degree, planning to come back after he finishes this year."
You know what he's studying now? He was telling me about this stuff... what's it called... cryptocurrency! Yeah, cryptocurrency! Isn't that just AIR? You can't see it, can't touch it! How's it different from those pyramid schemes from back in the day? I'm telling you, it's a SCAM! Don't touch it!"
Cryptocurrency?
Those words hit Ethan's exhausted brain like four thunderbolts!
Wait!
HOLY SHIT!
Ethan sat up ramrod straight, his pupils contracting instantly!
A massive wave of forgotten excitement and absolute FURY at himself swept through his body like an electric shock!
He reflexively slapped himself hard across the face!
"SMACK!"
The sharp sound was jarring in the quiet car, startling the driver so bad he nearly lost control of the wheel!
"WHOA! Kid! You... you okay?!"
The uncle looked at him in the mirror with genuine alarm:
"Don't scare me! Did you... forget your wallet or something? It's fine, it's fine! This ride's on me! Don't do anything crazy, young man..."
Ethan had completely tuned out the uncle's rambling at this point.
Bitcoin! Blockchain!
How the FUCK did I forget about such a massive goldmine?!
Got reborn and was so focused on the SATs, the World Cup, starting the company, and Diana... cough... that I completely MISSED the craziest wealth-creation opportunity of the next decade!
The cab arrived.
"We're here! Young man!"
The uncle said carefully.
Ethan pulled out a hundred-dollar bill from his pocket and shoved it at the uncle, his voice kind of floating:
"Thanks, keep the change."
He yanked the door open and got out.
The uncle took the cash and watched Ethan through the rearview mirror standing at the coffee shop entrance, looking like he'd been possessed, scratching his head. He couldn't help muttering:
"This kid... looks smart and put-together, so why's he acting like he lost his mind?"
Shaking his head, he hit the gas and drove off.
Meanwhile, Ethan stood at the coffee shop entrance, internally SCREAMING.
Since coming back from rebirth, he'd basically been laser-focused on the SATs and the World Cup—he'd completely forgotten about cryptocurrency.
He clearly remembered Bitcoin's insane trajectory from his past life:
End of 2013: Peak of the bubble, hitting $1,163 per coin!
2014 (right now): Bubble burst, crashed HARD! From the high earlier in the year, it halved. By August, only about $500 each! Market was in total despair, pessimism everywhere.
January 14, 2015: Rock bottom at only $177 per coin!
November 2015: Magical rebound back to around $502!
January 2016: Pulled back again to around $430.
2017: Started an EPIC surge, reaching nearly $20K by year's end!
2021: Peak hit $68,000 per coin! This rally was mainly driven by major corporations announcing Bitcoin purchases and institutional investors flooding in.
And right now.
Late August 2014—price hovering around $500!
Only a few months away from hitting that all-time low of $177 early next year!
That price difference was a naked MOUNTAIN OF GOLD! From $177 to $502 by year's end—nearly a 3x return just in the short term!
Then.
Buy more around $430 in early 2016 and wait for the 2017 explosion!
The current market cap! Bitcoin's total valuation at the end of 2014! This was still relatively early days, not yet ridiculously massive!
The potential profit margin made Ethan's heart pound wildly.
But after the initial excitement.
Real problems became crystal clear:
Purchase channels are complicated and risky: The current process for buying Bitcoin was complex and extremely unfriendly to regular people. Exchange disasters: The world's largest and most famous exchange Mt. Gox had filed for bankruptcy in February 2014! Countless users lost ALL their Bitcoin! This tanked market trust, and other exchanges were also in chaos—security was a HUGE concern! Need a reliable trader: He needed someone who understood finance, understood technology, and MORE importantly, understood Bitcoin principles and markets—someone absolutely trustworthy to execute this!
There are 70 advance chapters ahead in my Patreon. If you are interested can check it out.
patreon.com/B_A_3439