Early Bitcoin whale: 'People thought you were trying to scam them'

“Look for the price of lotto tickets, and you can hold Bitcoin for 10 years and become a millionaire. It's time you stop living in fear. If it goes to zero, you lose $1, who cares? But if I'm right, I want all of you to thank me.”

Davinci Jeremie gave this advice in a YouTube video back in 2013 when Bitcoin was around $130. Today it is trading at around $95,000. So you would forgive Davinci for wearing a “I told you so” t-shirt as an early adopter of cryptocurrency.

In an interview with The Crypto Radio, the Dubai-based resident said he hated that viral YouTube video, which has now racked up almost six million views. “It was just a horrible video, and I was just getting angry because people were like, ‘I won't even put $1 in this’ and they were hating on me, and called me names and saying that I was trying to steal from them and all that kind of stuff.”

Fast forward a decade and now Bitcoin is viewed as a store of value and is being stockpiled by governments, financial institutions, and companies who all believe in its long-term prospects.

“It was a hard time back then, just to convince somebody to buy some Bitcoin and put it away. People thought you were trying to scam them. Some of my friends they just ignored it, and they thought I was crazy and silly and all that kind of stuff,” added the self-taught software developer.

Davinci is well-known in the community as one of the earliest Bitcoin adopters, and has a huge social media following. He has more than 670,000 YouTube subscribers who tune in to watch his market analysis, insights on crypto adoption, and blockchain technology.

He holds most of the Bitcoin he bought for $1 and has been adding to his holdings, although its unclear how much he actually owns. “I'll be buying forever. Let's just say there is an inflection point where there's ‘hyper Bitcoinization’, which is coming and it will not be about the price, but the value of Bitcoin.”

Memecoins

Davinci has branched out into altcoins (any coin that’s not Bitcoin) and memecoins, which are the latest craze and popular with younger investors. He is involved with two such memecoins Waffle and Orc, which he has been promoting to his army of followers.

“I think the memecoin sector will explode higher and will be the big thing for 2025 but then, you know, once it fizzles away, right? Just like the NFTs, they'll be gone, probably for 16 years. Because by the time the next generation comes along, it's like that's all forgotten, and then the next generation picks it up.”

While memecoins are highly risky, some crypto experts believe they can be good training ground for new investors. “However, you need to spend a lot of time learning about the memecoins. You can start jumping in with, you know, $5, $10, or something like that. That's fine. I don't mind you doing that, but just understand what happens, right? Watch what happens when you do, when you just jump in.”

In crypto jargon, a commonly used phrase is DeGen. Derived from the word degenerate, it is often used in the crypto space to refer to individuals who engage in high-risk and speculative trading or investment strategies.

“If you do it the DeGen way, it's lots of fun, trust me. We've sat around one time at dinner, a whole bunch of people, and just choose a memecoin to buy and see what happens. We just bought small amounts, and you could do that just for fun.”

For those who want to do more analysis, Davinci has plenty of tips such as looking at the memecoin’s community, the team behind the project and its liquidity.

“But most of the time you just go full DeGen, because you never know what's going to go. Just make sure you understand you have a high probability of it going to zero, and there's a chance you can do very well. But if you can’t accept that, then don't do memecoins at all.”

If you're going to stick with a memecoin, crypto OGs like Davinci will always make sure that the team behind the launch are "doxed"—which means their identities have been revealed, either voluntarily or involuntarily.

“Then you could stick with it. Maybe, you know, buy and hold it. But if you don't know the team, then I would suggest you exit whenever there's any profit, every single time. So that would be my best advice.”

Talking about the next big thing, Davinci likes games that let you earn crypto. “Eventually the government and corporations will jump on this bandwagon, push you into crypto games as to give you something to do so you don't go riot in the streets.”