Legal Pad with ‘Buy Bitcoin’ Note Shown Behind Janet Yellen Fetches $1 Million in Auction

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A yellow legal pad with the words “Buy Bitcoin” written on it, famously displayed behind former United States Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen during a congressional hearing in 2017, has been sold at an auction for over $1 million, equivalent to 16 Bitcoin.

The auction took place on the Bitcoin auction platform Scarce City and concluded on April 24, with the winning bidder identified as “Justin,” also known as “Squirrekkywrath.” 

The seller of the pad was Christian Langalis, who had written the note and briefly flashed it to the camera while seated behind Yellen during a televised House Financial Services Committee hearing in July 2017.

Langalis was promptly escorted out of the hearing due to the prohibition of displaying signs. 

However, the impact was noticeable, as Bitcoin’s price reportedly increased by 3.7%, reaching over $2,418, according to CNBC.

Langalis to Receive $875,000 From the Sale

After Scarce City’s 15% fee deduction, Langalis is expected to receive approximately $875,000 or 13.6 BTC from the sale. 

In the auction listing, Langalis expressed his satisfaction in releasing the pad and returning it to the Bitcoin community.

“It was good to finally liberate this number from my sock drawer and offer it back to the Bitcoin public.”

The listing mentioned that the page containing the handwritten sign had been removed from the notepad shortly after the hearing but was subsequently reattached using archival wire. 

Additionally, the yellow legal pad includes an unseen rough draft of the iconic scrawl, along with notes about the hearing’s monetary policy and Bitcoin.

Congratulations to Justin, A.K.A. Squirrekkywrath, winner of the #BitcoinSignGuy auction for 16 #BTC. @tpacchia Get this man a Whale! pic.twitter.com/DPpczcEzkJ

— PUBKEY (@PubKey_NYC) April 24, 2024

In 2019, Langalis created and sold 21 replicas of the sign, which fetched an average price of 0.8 BTC, equivalent to approximately $51,300 today. 

According to the listing, these replicas are currently displayed in the offices of venture firms Paradigm, Blockchain Capital, Castle Island Ventures, and the crypto think-tank Coin Center.

Bloomberg reported that Langalis intends to utilize the proceeds from this recent sale to support a Bitcoin software project. 

Bitcoin Drops Below $64,000

On Wednesday, Bitcoin crashed to as low as $63,589, down 4% from the intra-day high.

The sell-off came amidst persistent resistance faced by Bitcoin, despite its attempts to consolidate above the $66,000 mark.

Adding to the downward pressure on BTC is the funding rate turning negative for the first time this year, just before the recent halving event. 

The negative funding rate indicates that the market’s sentiment has changed towards a bearish mood when the short positions outweigh the long positions.

“At this point, it is difficult to predict short-term volatility because we do not know what factors will appear in the market in the next one to three months,” Ruslan Lienkha, chief of markets at YouHodler, said in a comment. 

He added that given the information available right now, he does not expect further consolidation in the near future and a decrease in volatility for a while before BTC leaves the current channel of $72k – $60k.

“Breaking this channel in any direction will mean a significant increase in volatility, but it is difficult to say when this will happen – it can happen in one week or in five months.”

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