Chapter 15: Forced Entry into America
Chapter 15: Forced Entry into America
My wealth grew while I slept, and investors who bought Ripple were getting rich.
“Ripple will hit 10,000 won any day now. To the moon!”
My coworker, Na Sang-guk.
He covered sales in the Gangbuk area, and we weren't particularly close because of his characteristic bluffing and bragging.
He joined the company at the same time I did but was two years older.
“Coins? Only idiots get into that stuff.”
He'd been pessimistic about crypto, but once Ripple hit 900 won, he started investing aggressively.
He put in 20 million won and saw some nice returns, and by the time Ripple reached 1,300 won, he had cashed out all his savings and fixed deposits.
At first, he thanked me, but now he'd become a fervent Ripple fanatic.
He had become a human indicator signaling the peak.
* * *
December had been a truly lucky month.
Bitcoin had nearly quadrupled, but even more impressive was Ripple, which had soared to $2.60 in less than a month—more than ten times its purchase price.
Ethereum's threefold increase seemed modest by comparison.
Someone on the internet had called crypto a 'money printer,' and it was starting to feel like the truth.
A look around the crypto communities revealed...
- Ripple is the best thing going right now.
- I went all-in with my security deposit, and now I can afford an apartment.
- Just started mining. Any advice?
- A major bull run has started for Bitcoin.
- Crypto turned my life around.
- It pumped right after I bought! Made my annual salary in a week.
The crypto communities were overflowing with rosy optimism.
A few million won, maybe even ten million.
Posts showing proof of earnings—sometimes hundreds of millions of won—were all the rage.
‘My own investment returns are on another level. What would happen if I posted proof that I’d made $500 million from Ripple and $140 million from Ethereum?’
Most people wouldn't believe it.
If it were proven true, it would go beyond just shocking the community members; it would probably make the news.
There were probably quite a few people who had made hundreds of millions or even billions of won from crypto, but not many had made hundreds of billions.
And even after the new year began, the price of Ripple continued its terrifying climb.
In Korea, it broke through the 3,000 won barrier and surpassed 4,000 won.
I earned another $150 million from Ripple.
‘I invested $50 million. Now it’s worth nearly $700 million.’
I had invested in Ripple for its stability.
It wasn't a coin obtained through user mining, but one where an organization had issued 100 billion of them.
Chris Larsen.
The co-founder and chairman, held 5.1 billion Ripple, making him one of the five richest people in America based on its valuation.
All thanks to the rising value of a coin he himself had issued.
‘One of the five richest men in America. This is clearly a bubble.’
Back when I first discovered I owned Bitcoin, I might have thought crypto had future value.
But December was clearly a month driven by a storm of greed.
‘Time to sell it all.’
I was tempted by the thought that it could go even higher. It wasn't an easy decision, but I decided to take a break here.
A lesson from my father.
Greed has no limits.
You only make money when you overcome greed and get up from the table at the right time.
Having made my decision, I wrote a message in the group chat with my coworkers.
- Kim Shin: Just wanted to let you all know.
- Kim Shin: I'm about to sell all of my Ethereum and Ripple.
- Kim Sang-gi: Seriously? You're selling when it's still rising? You could more than double your money in a week.
- Team Leader Seo Jong-gi: Selling now? Assistant Manager Kim, you've got the heart of a beast, haha. You think this is the peak? Should I sell too?
- Na Sang-guk: Are you serious? Hey, everyone, don't just listen to Assistant Manager Kim. Does it make sense to sell and walk away during a golden age like this?
- Na Sang-guk: Think about it, Assistant Manager Kim. Ripple is full of good news. Once interbank financial transactions really take off, Ripple will be leading the way.
- Na Sang-guk: People are still buying Ripple. You think they don't know what they're doing? Even banks will need to hold Ripple to make transactions. They have no choice but to buy it.
- Na Sang-guk: The supply and demand are solid, and its use case is clear. I see Ripple replacing Bitcoin as the representative coin very soon.
Until now, the group chat had been a festive place, celebrating the rising crypto prices.
I had no intention of completely changing the mood with just a few words.
Some people had followed my lead and bought in, but the responsibility and decisions for their investments were ultimately their own.
- Kim Shin: I just think it's risen too much in a short period. It feels like greed is pushing the price up, not its intrinsic value. I see that as a sign that the risk of a crash has grown.
- Kim Shin: Everyone has to make their own investment decisions. This is where I get off.
- Na Sang-guk: Such a shame. Do you really have to?
- Na Sang-guk: I'm sure you've already made more than me, but you're missing the chance to get truly rich.
- Team Leader Seo Jong-gi: Okay. I'll think about what you said, Assistant Manager Kim. Thanks for the Ripple recommendation. It made for a warm year-end. Haha.
- Kim Sang-gi: I'll treat the team to some BBQ!
- Team Leader An Myeong-guk: Why treat us at the company?
- Kim Sang-gi: Well... with the corporate card...
- Team Leader An Myeong-guk: Let's all go together, haha.
After notifying everyone in the group chat, I logged into the crypto exchange.
The price of the coins changed every second, and the number of coins I held was enormous.
A 'whale,' as they say in the crypto world.
The really big whales might hold billions of dollars, but I figured I was a decent-sized whale myself.
‘I’ll sell it off bit by bit. It would be a problem if I crashed the market.’
I ordered some jajangmyeon and spent the whole day gradually selling off my Ethereum and Ripple.
* * *
A total of $860 million.
How could I even begin to describe the feeling of possessing nearly a trillion won?
‘I’m speechless.’
How many people in the world had ever made this much money from short-term investments?
Bitcoin, Ethereum, Ripple.
Cryptocurrencies weren't even classified as assets, so legally, there were no taxes to pay.
There would be nothing illegal about transferring the $860 million to Korea.
The FIU.
When a large sum of dollars comes in, the Financial Intelligence Unit is automatically notified, and I might have to explain how I earned the money.
‘But to make this much money work for me, America is the better option.’
There were blue-chip stocks among domestic companies.
Small and medium-sized bio-companies I'd learned about while working at the pharmaceutical company.
Companies with good technology on par with foreign firms, excellent owners, and solid fundamentals.
But if I invested such a huge amount, wouldn't they think I was trying to stage a hostile takeover?
‘The sum is so large, I have no choice but to manage it in the US. And if I’m going to invest in America, I should probably go see it for myself.’
It struck me that I knew next to nothing about the United States.
The words of the fortune teller I met in Haeundae occasionally came to mind.
‘She said luck would find its way to me even if I stood still. But if I traveled the world and had many experiences, I could seize an even greater fortune.’
Even I had to admit my experience of the world was lacking and my knowledge was limited.
Part-time jobs and office life.
I had no experience beyond earning a salary.
Even if I didn't believe the fortune teller's words, if there was truth to them, they were worth considering.
‘Even just to learn how to manage my money wisely, I should go visit the US.’
My network of connections was small, but I did have a friend working in America.
Back in my college days.
A friend I'd lived with for two years in a semi-basement apartment after moving up from the countryside.
He had studied like his life depended on it and, after graduating, landed a job at an IT company in San Francisco.
- Kim Shin: I'm coming to the US. Can you put me up for a few days?
- Oh Myeong-woo: A few days? You can stay for a year if you want. Come anytime. I'm bored.
- Kim Shin: Where do you live?
- Oh Myeong-woo: Palo Alto. Near Stanford University.
- Kim Shin: Sounds like a nice place.
- Oh Myeong-woo: It's just a one-room place. But we're not in a position to be picky about that, are we? It's clean, so it'll be fine. When are you coming?
- Kim Shin: Hold on.
I carefully sent a text to my boss, Team Leader An.
I asked if I could take a week or more of vacation starting from the beginning of the year.
- Team Leader An Myeong-guk: We have sabbaticals, you know.
- Kim Shin: We do?
- Team Leader An Myeong-guk: The two-week vacation for employees who've worked here for four years.
I had completely forgotten about it.
I had planned to work here until I retired, so I never thought of using it, but now it seemed fine to take it.
- Kim Shin: Can I start tomorrow?
- Team Leader An Myeong-guk: It's rare for an employee to use it at the start of the year.
- Kim Shin: Is that a problem?
- Team Leader An: Not at all. I'm actually grateful. We don't have much work in January after the year-end conference. If you combine it with the weekend and the New Year holiday, you'll get about 20 days. Get some good rest.
- Kim Shin: Thank you.
Unlike most companies, the year-end and the start of the new year were our slowest times.
Even if we went to the office, we often just killed time before heading home.
I looked up plane tickets and found a flight for tomorrow evening.
- Kim Shin: I can leave tomorrow.
- Oh Myeong-woo: Hurry up and get here. I'm bored.
- Kim Shin: K.
* * *
I booked a flight to the US and got my electronic visa.
Then, I headed to a department store.
“I'm here to look at men's watches.”
A luxury watch.
I was on my way to see a friend who had endured hard times with me, and I wanted to buy him a watch as a gift.
“This one looks nice.”
“You'll have to make a reservation to purchase it.”
“When would it be available?”
“You'd have to wait at least a year.”
It was a reminder of just how many wealthy people there are in the world.
Watches costing over ten million won had a basic waiting list of one to two years. I ended up buying one that was in stock, and I picked up a wallet as well.
Since I planned to be in the US for at least a week, I also bought a bag for my things and a travel suitcase.
‘Any old suitcase will do for travel, right?’
I bought a cheap, inexpensive suitcase.
* * *
At Incheon Airport, I boarded the plane to America.
First class.
The ticket was about six times more expensive, and it was a consumable expense, not an asset.
My frugal habits were still ingrained in me, so I had tried to buy a business class ticket, but since there were none left, I bought a first-class one.
‘This is nice. Unbelievably nice.’
I stowed my bag, took off my coat, and handed it to a flight attendant.
When I flew to Germany in economy, I had to keep my legs together and sit stiffly the whole way.
Sitting in the comfortable first-class seat, I could feel the greatness of money.
“Hello.”
The female passenger in the seat next to me, who had been reading a thick file, spoke to me.
“Oh, hello.”
She wore elegant, unbranded clothes and had a pretty face.
Honestly, when she spoke to me, my first thought was to worry if I had done something wrong.
I hadn't had time to learn any first-class flight etiquette.
She handed me a business card.
“We'll be flying together for eleven hours, so I thought we might as well introduce ourselves. I'm Jin Yoo-kyung, a Managing Director at Mirae Motors.”
Do people exchange business cards in first class?
“I'm afraid I didn't bring any business cards. I'm a sales representative for a pharmaceutical company.”
“A sales... representative?”
“Yes. Though I've been focusing more on investing lately.”