Bitcoin Whales: The Biggest Gains Came from Years of Doing Nothing

The Power of Patience: How Bitcoin Whales Made Billions

The biggest Bitcoin gains of all time are not stories about brilliant trading. They are stories about patience, conviction, and an almost painful indifference to market noise ^[1].

Early Wallets: Billions from Almost Nothing

The most spectacular gains come from those wallets from 2009 to 2012, filled with thousands of Bitcoin, acquired through mining or early purchases when one Bitcoin was worth barely more than a coffee ^[1]. Many of these coins were never moved – no selling, no rebalancing, no profit-taking.

Satoshi Nakamoto's estimated 1.1 million BTC, untouched since 2010, are worth over $96 billion today ^[1]. Similarly, 10,000 to 80,000 BTC from 2011 with an investment under $10,000 turned into up to $7 billion, without ever moving a single satoshi ^[1]. In total, 2 to 4 million early bitcoins lie dormant – hundreds of billions in paper profits from virtually zero investment ^[1].

These mythical whales held through all crashes because they saw Bitcoin as an experiment, not as speculation ^[1].

MicroStrategy: The Biggest Institutional Bitcoin Trade

While the early whales come from a different era, one name stands for the biggest institutional Bitcoin trade of modern times: Michael Saylor ^[1]. Since 2020, MicroStrategy (now Strategy) has aggressively purchased Bitcoin, partly with borrowed capital ^[1].

Mt. Gox: Profits from Disaster

Another circle of successful Bitcoin whales emerged from the biggest catastrophe of the early crypto years: the collapse of the Mt. Gox exchange ^[1]. While the market lost confidence and Bitcoin was temporarily considered failed and fell extremely low, some investors seized the opportunity ^[1].

They bought Bitcoin at prices below $500 or later acquired Mt. Gox claims at massive discounts ^[1]. Years later, after one of the longest insolvency proceedings in financial history, these claims were partially paid out – at prices that exceeded the original investments many times over ^[1].

The Perfect Exit: Selling According to Plan

Not all major Bitcoin whales are still holding today. Some of the most impressive gains came from those who actually sold – not out of panic, but according to plan ^[1]. Entered early, partially exited near all-time highs, diversified into real estate, businesses, or foundations ^[1].

The Common Recipe for Success

Whether early miners, institutional investors, or contrarian bargain hunters – they all share one characteristic: an extremely long time horizon ^[1]. None of them relied on indicators, YouTube gurus, or short-term narratives ^[1]. They ignored headlines, survived crashes, and resisted the urge to constantly trade ^[1].

Realistic Opportunities for Retail Investors

For investors with limited capital, the question arises: How realistic is the path to crypto millions with just €1,000 starting capital? ^[2] Five different strategies were examined, including long-term Bitcoin investments, day trading, crypto index funds, mining, and investments in crypto startups ^[2].

The result: Only one of the five strategies is convincing long-term ^[2]. The other four approaches carry too high a risk and are not recommendable ^[2]. Mining with small capital in particular is almost hopeless ^[2].

The most successful investments were made by those who entered the market early and maintained their investments long-term ^[1]. They seized their opportunities and achieved enormous gains ^[1].