One year ago this month, Charlie Lee made one of the best trades I’ve seen in a long time. With cryptocurrencies reaching a mania, he chose to sell his Litecoin holdings. The price at the time was around $300. We don’t know for sure what price he chose to sell at nor his holdings amount, but as the creator, one would assume it was substantial.
Lee chose to sell as he believed his holdings had become a conflict of interest. By selling, he could remove the issue of his holdings from the equation and focus on improving Litecoin regardless. Since then, some people have viewed his trade with cynical eyes. By selling at what was essentially the top, members of the community have accused him of dumping his bags and suggest this was done on purpose.
Lee has refuted any such claims. He has stood by his reasoning since then and continued to work on Litecoin development. Litecoin has now become something of a test-net for future Bitcoin releases. Litecoin incorporated SegWit before Bitcoin, showing that FUD surrounding the technology was unfounded. Lee has also been a proponent of Lightning technology, which has seen a great expansion in recent months. In fairness to Lee, he has been true to his word.
Whether you view the trade as positive or negative, I must admit that, solely from a personal perspective, I would’ve done something similar. Since then, Litecoin has fallen (much like the rest of the market) to just above $30. Lee could, if he wanted to, buy back in. However, this is not going to happen. Instead, he will continue to work on developing Litecoin to ensure the project is the best that it can be. If he did, however, choose to become a trader, it seems that he would have a certain talent for it. I only wish I hadn’t forgot my password to an old Litecoin wallet so I could’ve dumped as well.
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed by the author should not be considered as financial advice. We do not give advice on financial products.