Reddit’s CEO Alexis Ohanian reportedly purchased Ether in 2014 during its presale and made huge returns on the investment.
Alexis Ohanian recently spoke about his investment in Ether in 2014, which eventually proved very successful. He had bought 50,000 Ether for only $15000 in 2014 during its presale, which converts to 30 cents per ETH. He spoke about the purchase at length recently and revealed what had prompted him to make the purchase.
“Any group of people who have in their consciousness, or in their collective history, some idea of persecution, especially by a state, makes the idea of a store of value that is not controlled by any single state very attractive. And so, in some ways it was hardwired in me then, and made me in a way receptive to the idea of a decentralized currency,” said Alexis Ohanian, referring to how his Armenian heritage had made him interested in the idea of decentralization in the storage of value.
Alexis Ohanian’s investment has surely paid off, as the value of his purchased Ether has increased to over $82 million. His belief in self-custody and ‘unseizable property’ comes from how his ancestors had faced persecution during the Armenian genocide and had their belongings and properties seized. Alexis Ohanian also manages his private keys to his cryptos without being dependent on any exchange.
Using his investment proceeds, he founded a venture capitalist firm in 2020, funding several crypto startups and web3 projects. It currently has $750 million in assets under management and has raised millions for similar investments. Though Ohanian agrees with the volatility of crypto, he believes it is a very credible investment due to the high inflation in the world.