The famous ‘Buy Bitcoin’ sign, written on a yellow notepad, that became an iconic symbol during Janet Yellen’s Congressional testimony in July 2017 has been sold in an auction for 16 BTC, amounting to just over $1 million. The auction, facilitated by Scarce.City, achieved a record-breaking amount on the platform.
The auction event took place at PubKey, a Bitcoin-themed bar located in New York City, adding a touch of cryptocurrency ambiance to the proceedings. The buyer of the sign is an individual known by the online alias Squirrekkywrath, as confirmed in a tweet by PubKey. Not much is known about the new owner, but Alex Thorn, the head of research at Galaxy, describes them as a “bitcoin OG that no one has ever heard of.”
Christian Langalis, the person who held up the famous sign, said that the proceeds from the auction would be directed towards funding his startup, Tirrel Corp. The company is actively developing a Bitcoin Lightning network wallet on Urbit, an open-source operating system.
Langalis gained attention during a House Financial Services hearing in 2017 when he defiantly displayed the ‘Buy Bitcoin’ sign. However, his actions resulted in him being escorted out of the building for violating committee rules. Nevertheless, the image of the sign quickly spread across the internet, going viral and capturing the imagination of the crypto community.