The businessman invested USD 10,000 on Coinbase and later decided to sell his holdings at USD 6 million. After earning millions of US dollars, he explained why he believes that cryptocurrencies are useless and should not exist.

Liron Shapira made millions of US dollars in profits thanks to cryptocurrencies but now thinks the growing crypto ecosystem is useless.

The CEO of the website Relationship Hero was among the first bitcoin holders on Coinbase, where he did well.

However, this businessman has become a strong critic of cryptocurrencies, although 50% of his net worth comes from this market.

Shapira started researching cryptocurrencies at the University of Berkeley, in California, USA, in 2007. Later, he invested about USD 3.9 billion in Bitcoin (BTC) when it was trading at around USD 5 per unit.

He commented that BTC was interesting as it solved the double-spending problem, referring to using a token more than once. The businessman highlighted that blockchains have no intermediary, which prevents double spending on the ledger.

Since he did not earn high profits, he started to undo positions, considering it a correct decision. Shapira sold more whenever he made capital gains, although he was unsure about the sustainability of the bullish price.

He Makes His Flagship Investment on the Coinbase Cryptocurrency Exchange

In 2012, Lion Shapira invested EUR 10,104, equivalent to USD 10,000, through the online venture capital firm FundersClub.

The businessman secured a stake nine years before the multi-billion dollar company went public. Brian Armstrong, the founder, and leader of the startup, made it the first official Bitcoin on-ramp.

Shapira said that investing in the Bitcoin space was the best bet at the time as it was very promising.

The Businessman Exits Coinbase at the Best Time

Years later, Shapira became disappointed in cryptocurrencies, which he now as an ecosystem full of bloated Minimum Viable Products (MVPs).

While keeping his holdings on Coinbase, he continued analyzing the ecosystem, contemplating launching realistic Web3 startups.

In 2021, before the share price of Coinbase dropped by almost 80%, the company was in a scandal over an alleged insider trading scheme.

At the time, Shapira had converted his investment of EUR 10,104 into EUR 6 million. If he had not diversified it over the years, it would have reached EUR 25 million. If another investor had bought BTC at USD 10 in 2012, his investment would have increased by 189.777%.

Shapira stated that he had almost his entire portfolio on Coinbase when he barely believed in cryptocurrencies. Following the IPO at USD 86 billion, which he did not expect, he concluded the space was about to collapse.

In addition, he decided to divest, betting against the company he initially backed. Many people on Twitter told him he had missed the boat, but he thinks he shielded his profits.

Shapira raised EUR 171.7 million, equivalent to USD 170 million, to create a technology startup called Quixey. Alibaba was one of the investors, but it crashed and lost all the money.

He wants to become the Michael Burry of cryptocurrencies, as he was among the first investors to predict the crisis to benefit from it.

By Alexander Salazar