Palmer Luckey Reveals Early Bitcoin Mining, Recalls Mt. Gox Losses

Palmer Luckey began mining Bitcoin before any exchanges existed and sold a website ad for 700 BTC, now worth over $74 million.

He lost all his cryptocurrency holdings in the Mt. Gox hacked and recovered only 13% years later after a complex legal process.

Luckey has maintained a strong preference for Bitcoin and avoids altcoins, a common view among early adopters in the cryptocurrency space.

Oculus VR founder Palmer Luckey recently revealed his long-standing involvement with Bitcoin during a podcast hosted by entrepreneur Peter Diamandis. He described himself as a "big time Bitcoin guy" and confirmed he had been active in the cryptocurrency space since its inception.

He revealed he started mining Bitcoin several years ago, before the creation of exchanges and only stopped to launch his exchanges. Luckey pointed out how he spent time on BitcoinTalk, where Satoshi Nakamoto contributed alongside other advancement leaders.

Luckey said he sold an ad on one of his websites using bitcoin for the price of 700 BTC. That equates to around $74 million today, based on Bitcoin’s trading price of $106,000.

Additionally, he admitted to using Bitcoin to place bets on a slot machine, which ultimately failed to work. These actions underline how Bitcoin was once treated as an experimental digital asset rather than a store of value.

Mt. Gox Hack Wipes Out Luckey’s Holdings

During the same podcast, Luckey disclosed that he lost all of his Bitcoin during the infamous Mt. Gox exchange hack. He only recovered about 13% of his holdings after enduring a lengthy recovery process over several years.

The Mt. Gox incident remains one of the most significant security failures in cryptocurrency history, with thousands of early users impacted.

Firm Stance Against Altcoins

Although he initially backed Bitcoin, Luckey has made it known he does not support other cryptocurrencies. He found that many early users of Bitcoin tend to steer clear of other digital currencies.

His stress on Bitcoin opens a gap between early crypto users and newer people interested in the broader world of digital currencies.

Among the first things that got Luckey known was his development of the Oculus Rift charm bracelets, which were crowdfunded through Kickstarter in 2012. At only 16, he was experimenting by making early models in his parents' garage.

Cook’s advances in VR helped wake up the dying industry, resulting in Facebook buying Oculus for $2 billion in 2014. He went on to form Anduril, a defense technology company now worth $8 billion.

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