Historic Bitcoin Sign Set for Auction

A historical sign that has become a symbol for Bitcoin supporters will be auctioned, according to Bloomberg. The sign, displayed behind then-Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen during testimony to Congress in 2017, was created by Christian Langalis, a 22-year-old Bitcoin owner and intern at the Libertarian think tank Cato Institute. After the sign was seen on television, Langalis was escorted out of the courtroom but received approximately seven Bitcoins in unsolicited donations.

At the time, Bitcoin was gaining public attention and was trading at $2,300, down from under $1,000 six months earlier. The cryptocurrency soared more than 13,000% in 2017, but fell 74% the following year. This boom and bust cycle has become a common pattern for the digital asset.

With Wall Street giants such as BlackRock and Fidelity now backing the token, Langalis is looking to capitalize on the current momentum, which saw Bitcoin hit a record high of almost $74,000 in March. Langalis sold 21 copies of the sign in 2019 for an average of 0.8 Bitcoin. These numbered and time-stamped copies were created by Langalis himself.

Langalis was recently offered five Bitcoins, currently worth around $330,000, for the original sign, but he decided to auction it off instead. Auction materials describe the item as an 'Ink Drawing on Legal Notepad' weighing half a kilo and include Langalis' trial notes. The page with the sign drawing was removed from the notebook shortly after the hearing and has since been reattached with clear archival wire.

The winner of the auction will be announced at a Bitcoin-themed restaurant in New York called Pubkey, which Langalis uses as a co-working space. This sign was previously displayed in the bar.