MT Gox Silk Road Connection
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The transcript discusses Silk Road, an illegal marketplace that facilitated drug transactions using Bitcoin, which generated massive transaction volumes and had deep connections with the MT Gox Bitcoin exchange.
Key Points:
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Transaction Volume:
- $1.2 billion in illegal drug transactions (at 2013 Bitcoin prices)
- Breakdown of transactions:
- $46 million in marijuana
- $17.4 million in cocaine
- $8.9 million in heroin
- Value would be approximately 6,000x higher at Bitcoin's peak price ($60,000/BTC)
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MT Gox Connection:
- Silk Road accounted for 75% of MT Gox's business
- Domain service for Silk Road was owned by MT Gox CEO
- Most Silk Road transactions went through MT Gox
- MT Gox CEO's motivation:
- Increased Bitcoin price
- Made MT Gox more valuable
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Business Structure:
- Operated with remote team
- Started in 2010-2011
- Ran for approximately 2 years
- Used Bitcoin for anonymous transactions
- Operated on dark web to maintain secrecy
Sam Parr
Host of MFM and fitness influencer
Sam Parr is a serial entrepreneur and business media pioneer.
In 2016, he founded The Hustle, a business news media company that started in his kitchen with just $12 and grew to eight figures in revenue.
Sam led the charge in making newsletters popular when few believed in their potential.
After four successful years, he sold The Hustle to HubSpot, a publicly traded company. Now operating as HubSpot Media, The Hustle reaches 3 million readers daily, employs a team of nearly 100, and has been the launchpad for dozens of its staff to found their own media companies and newsletters.
Sam remains the host of the popular business podcast, My First Million, and continues to start and sell companies. He also co-founded Hampton, a highly vetted community for entrepreneurs, founders, and CEOs, and teaches people to write better through his platform, Copy That.