The Bitcoin Historian

#BITCOIN LEGEND: FARIDA NABOUREMA 

Exiled from her country 
Used BTC to fight dictators 
Still working for freedom in Africa

A thread 🔥 

1/ Farida was born in Togo, a former French colony, in 1990. 

She grew up under the regime of President Gnassingbé Eyadéma, who imprisoned and tortured her father 

Every day, he demanded citizens gather and give him applause 😡 

2/ Eyadéma died in 2005.

But his son Faure soon became president in a military coup.

Farida, then 15 years old, joined the opposition party and started attending protest rallies 👏 

3/ In 2008, Farida moved to the U.S. 

There, she co-founded @Fauremustgo 

She started denouncing the Faure regime’s violent acts and injustices on social media ✊ 

@Fauremustgo 4/ Faure remained in power by winning disputed elections

But Farida didn't give up. She demanded Togo’s members of parliament reinstate presidential term limits

When she called the majority leader to complain, he hung up on her! 🤯 

@Fauremustgo 5/ Farida recorded the call and posted it to social media.

It went viral. Thousands followed her lead and did the same

The government responded by threatening her 😡 

@Fauremustgo 6/ Farida went into exile abroad.

By then, the Faure regime was arresting anyone who sent money to the resistance movement

That’s when she started using #Bitcoin to transact – and to avoid working with corrupt banks 🔥 

@Fauremustgo 7/ Farida saw #Bitcoin an alternative to the CFA Franc

A colonial currency forced on African countries via “mass executions, militarization and corruption.” 

One massively devalued over decades... 😡 

@Fauremustgo 8/ Farida called #Bitcoin a "lifesaver." 

It wasn’t a "fantasy" for people living under hostile regimes.

She decided she needed to do more to promote the currency – and its impact on global freedom 🧡 

@Fauremustgo 9/ Farida’s love for Bitcoin led her to start an event...

The #AfricaBitcoinConference

The 1st was hosted in Ghana at $20,000 in 2022 👏 

@Fauremustgo 10/ The first year was a challenge for Farida.

A developer who was supposed to register her event company vanished with the money.

Members of Ghana’s government promised to attend… but went to the World Cup instead 🤬 

@Fauremustgo 11/ But Farida got help from volunteers new to #Bitcoin.

ABC 2022 was a success, hosting 60+ speakers.

This included @Jack Dorsey – the billionaire founder of X and Square 😍 

@Fauremustgo @jack 12/ Farida tried to raise funds for a 2nd African #Bitcoin Conference in 2023.

She even sold her car to earn the money, but it wasn’t enough. She became stressed, suffered asthma attacks, and wound up in hospital.

Fortunately, she produced the event 🧡 

@Fauremustgo @jack 13/ That wasn’t the end of Farida’s difficulties.

The operations director — one of Farida’s most trusted friends — took the conference’s money – again!

She still doesn’t know why he did it 😡 

@Fauremustgo @jack 14/ Through it all, Farida persevered. 

In 2024, Farida held ABC in Kenya, and it attracted companies and sponsors from the EU and US.

Once again, the event was a success 🏆 

@Fauremustgo @jack 15/ Today, Farida operates a training program for students.

It’s given 3,000+ children education and training on BTC.

Here they are celebrating #Bitcoin Pizza Day 🍕 

@Fauremustgo @jack 16/ Farida remains a driving force for #Bitcoin adoption and advocacy — not just in Africa, but around the world.

She’s regularly a guest speaker at global conferences.

Here she is at Norway’s parliament in 2022 👇 

@Fauremustgo @jack 17/ In 2024, Farida was named to the Genesis Committee for the Finney Freedom Prize, dedicated to the late Hal Finney.

She helps honor #Bitcoin's greatest advocates.

🧡 

He bought 260,000 #Bitcoin for $0.01 each

His exchange ERASED the trade

The TRAGIC STORY of Kevin Day, who lost $16 billion in one of the biggest exchange rollbacks in crypto history 

1/ Kevin Day was a 1990s geek from Nebraska.

A video game developer, he worked on classics like Mortal Kombat 4, NBA Showtime, and NFL Blitz.

He even once met Luke Skywalker himself – Mark Hamill 

2/ In his spare time, Kevin worked on the internet.

When his startup closed in the Dot-Com Crash, he went on hosting websites.

That’s what attracted him to #Bitcoin – he loved the freedom of web culture. 

3/ Kevin joined #Bitcoin when the price was $7 

BTC was on a tear – up from $0.30 

He was frantically trying to mine BTC 

4/ Then, on June 19, 2011 – Kevin got the opportunity of a LIFETIME

#Bitcoin CRASHED from $17 to $0.01 –– in just 20 minutes 

Here’s what it looked like in real time 

5/ While others were freaking out, Kevin took action. 

He bid to buy $3,000 worth of #Bitcoin. 

The price? $0.0101 

6/ Kevin bought 259,684 BTC for UNDER $3,000

When the price bounced back – it was a 166,000% gain

Here’s Kevin explaining the $5 MILLION he made 

7/ But Kevin’s luck didn’t last long

The flash crash was due to an exchange hack – a hacker had stolen the coins, then sold them to crash the market.

Mt. Gox quickly announced it would "roll back" the trades. 

8/ It wasn't a great time to hold your #Bitcoin on an exchange. 

A week earlier, Mt. Gox. reported 25,000 BTC stolen

The exchange was now blaming THEIR OWN AUDITOR! 

9/ A rollback meant all trades after the hack would be canceled – including Kevin's 

Other buyers who put in legitimate orders – buying hundreds of #Bitcoin for PENNIES… saw 0 BTC balances. 

They were angry and upset 

10/ Now, before the roll back, Kevin made a small withdrawal

Of the 260,000 he bought, he withdrew 643 BTC – the most allowed by the exchange's own policies

This would only add to the controversy... 

11/ As #Bitcoin users asked for answers, Kevin was among the few who stepped forward. 

He believed his trade was legitimate.

He went on an early #Bitcoin TV show to defend himself. 

12/ In Kevin’s mind, he wasn’t responsible for his exchange’s security. 

Mt. Gox never refunded any individuals who were hacked

He thought a rollback set a dangerous precedent. 

13/ #Bitcoin users were torn 

Many thought that Kevin was the Mt. Gox. hacker

They called him a thief 

14/ Others defended him and urged him to call a lawyer.

Some claimed Kevin had stepped up…

One user called him a “hero” 

15/ Lawyers advised Kevin to sue Mt. Gox.  But he pushed back. 

He didn't want to tank the Bitcoin economy.  

He put Bitcoin over his own personal profit 👏 

16/ The debate centered around one key idea  

Should exchanges be held to the same standards as Bitcoin?   

Unfortunately, most don't give users any rights to their coins – here's @Nneuman explaining the dangers 

17/ Ultimately, Mt. Gox would do what was in its best interest – erasing all the trades.  

Kevin lost 259,360 #Bitcoin But he learned a valuable lesson – never leave your coins on an exchange  

✨ 