<p>The exchange rate between bitcoin and USD fluctuates (and, on average, has been going up a <em>lot</em>). In 2011, the dollar value of a single bitcoin was far less than it is today. I have no idea what the value of a bitcoin was when you bought in 2011, but suppose 1 BTC was worth $0.01. For $6.42 (ignoring fees) you could have bought 642 BTC.</p>

<p>Fast forward to today, where 1 BTC is worth about $2400, then your 642 BTC would be worth $1540800.</p>

<p>When Bitcoin started, it was worthless. Anecdotally, the first bitcoin transaction for a real world item was for <a href="https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Laszlo_Hanyecz" rel="nofollow noreferrer">two pizzas for 10,000 BTC</a>. Apparently that was worth $41 at the time, so 1 BTC was worth $0.0041. Back then, nobody had any idea how much 1 BTC <em>should</em> be worth. </p>

<p>It seems rather unlikely that a bug has caused you to unknowingly acquire bitcoins without your involvement. Instead, it seems plausible that you bought in very early when the price was quite low, and now have an asset that is worth quite a bit more than what you paid for it.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-06-02T03:41:10.780Z
2017-06-02T03:41:10.780Z
Greg Hewgill
<p>The other day, I found my old 2011 dell laptop and decided to boot it up. I noticed I had a bitcoin wallet on it and then I remembered I purchased bitcoins back in 2011 (about a couple dollars worth).</p>

<p>In the wallet there is 642 bitcoins, and my wallet says that is $1540800 USD. I am so shocked I am not even sure if this is a glitch or not. How can this be?? I havent touched this computer since 2011 nor ought any coins since then. Is this a bug in the blockchain?</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-06-02T04:34:22.513Z
You should be able to also recover your bitcoin Address, and verify the amount on a site like http://blockchain.info
abelenky
<transactions>
Problem in my bitcoin wallet, not sure why this glitch is happening
JavaC3code
# Problem in my bitcoin wallet, not sure why this glitch is happening

(Asked by: username_0 on 2017-06-02)

The other day, I found my old 2011 dell laptop and decided to boot it up. I noticed I had a bitcoin wallet on it and then I remembered I purchased bitcoins back in 2011 (about a couple dollars worth).

In the wallet there is 642 bitcoins, and my wallet says that is $1540800 USD. I am so shocked I am not even sure if this is a glitch or not. How can this be?? I havent touched this computer since 2011 nor ought any coins since then. Is this a bug in the blockchain?

**Tags:** transactions

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: You should be able to also recover your bitcoin Address, and verify the amount on a site like http://blockchain.info  

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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_2 on 2017-06-02. Score: 0 | Accepted answer

The exchange rate between bitcoin and USD fluctuates (and, on average, has been going up a *lot*). In 2011, the dollar value of a single bitcoin was far less than it is today. I have no idea what the value of a bitcoin was when you bought in 2011, but suppose 1 BTC was worth $0.01. For $6.42 (ignoring fees) you could have bought 642 BTC.

Fast forward to today, where 1 BTC is worth about $2400, then your 642 BTC would be worth $1540800.

When Bitcoin started, it was worthless. Anecdotally, the first bitcoin transaction for a real world item was for [two pizzas for 10,000 BTC](https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Laszlo_Hanyecz). Apparently that was worth $41 at the time, so 1 BTC was worth $0.0041. Back then, nobody had any idea how much 1 BTC *should* be worth.

It seems rather unlikely that a bug has caused you to unknowingly acquire bitcoins without your involvement. Instead, it seems plausible that you bought in very early when the price was quite low, and now have an asset that is worth quite a bit more than what you paid for it.


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