In short
- John Kim went all-in on cryptocurrencies in 2018.
- However the markets took a tumble and two years later, he is nonetheless homeless.
- In 2021, he says, those that referred to as him foolhardy will probably be proved incorrect.
In August 2018, John Kim offered his home and gave the proceeds to his spouse. Earlier within the 12 months, he had offered his worthwhile enterprise and put his life financial savings into cryptocurrencies. Then he received in his van, emblazoned with the Litecoin emblem, and set off on a one-man marketing campaign to boost consciousness and adoption of his favourite cryptocurrency among the many lots.
Prior to now two years, he’s given away hundreds of {dollars} in Litecoin and persuaded eating places and bars all through the US to just accept it as a quick and straightforward technique of cost.
“They referred to as me a Litecoin evangelist. However I am actually a easy man with a easy plan. I consider one of the best ways to get individuals into crypto is to indicate them an instance and allow them to expertise it for themselves,” Kim informed Decrypt on a latest name from Texas, the place he’s weathering the coronavirus storm.
He’s nonetheless homeless, has been criticized for being foolhardy and reckless, and admits that cryptocurrencies performed a giant half within the breakup of his marriage. However Kim has no regrets; he informed us why his story may have a cheerful ending.
Giving all of it up for crypto
Kim, 43, mentioned he grew up in Dallas, Texas. He left highschool with no diploma and labored in a sequence of low-paying jobs till he was in a position to begin his personal enterprise with $10,000 borrowed from his father.
By 2018, he had a sequence of 9 cellular phone shops, and was the quantity two supplier within the Oklahoma space, he mentioned.
Collectively along with his spouse, Kim had begun to put money into Bitcoin and Ethereum in 2017, and have become more and more drawn into the cryptocurrency world—a lot to the consternation of his household and mates.
Litecoin, specifically, attracted his consideration. The cryptocurrency is the fifth largest by market cap and was designed to be faster at processing transactions than Bitcoin. Its creator is Charlie Lee, a MIT graduate, ex-Googler and a former head of engineering at crypto alternate Coinbase, who’s revered amongst his hundreds of thousands of supporters.
The 2 struck up a correspondence on crypto Twitter, when Kim provided to defend Lee from critics indignant that the latter had offered his LTC holdings at peak value. (Lee has stated that he did this to help decentralization and forestall battle of curiosity.)
“I informed him about my background,” mentioned Kim. “I did not stay such a fantastic life. I tousled so much once I was youthful. I do not know something in regards to the technical facet of blockchain [but] in the event you give me one likelihood, I swear I’ll discover a method to not allow you to down,” he mentioned he informed Lee. (Lee verified the alternate, however added no remark.) “I simply poured my coronary heart out on direct message, not even realizing who was going to reply me again. After which he answered. He mentioned, ‘you bought it.’”
That was all of the encouragement Kim wanted. He offered his enterprise and went all-in on cryptocurrencies. His objective: to be a Litecoin evangelist to the world. In the meantime, his marriage started to unravel.
“There was no approach that she was going to dare to go on this loopy journey with me. It wasn’t even a query,” mentioned Lee on his spouse’s response. “Lots of people tried to present me recommendation, like marriage and household first, however my spouse knew, even when she [first] met me, that I’m both all in or all out. I do not do the entire center factor. That is how I used to be in a position to take 10 grand and construct 15 companies.”
In Kim’s thoughts, going all-in on cryptocurrency introduced the one alternative to vary the trajectory of not solely his personal life however the lives of his two sons. “When you do not have schooling and you do not have a level, you need to out-hustle everybody as a result of you do not have a lot to work with. Everyone’s already began the race. It’s a must to catch up,” he mentioned.
With the cash from the sale of their household home, his spouse opened up a Korean barbecue restaurant in a neighboring state. “And he or she’s doing OK,” mentioned Kim. “However proper now, she would not like crypto as a result of she felt like crypto took me away from her. So she would not personal any crypto.”
Dwelling the Litecoin life
And Kim’s mettle was to be examined before he thought. LTC dropped to lows of $22 not lengthy after he set out on his mission (its all-time excessive, in 2017 was $400), and Kim, now broke, skilled some darkish moments.
It was at these occasions, he mentioned, that the Litecoin neighborhood got here by means of, paying for a room in a resort, or providing a spot on a sofa.
Exterior the crypto area, he was derided as irresponsible and silly. But he caught to his weapons. He appeared as Lee’s private bodyguard on the cryptocurrency’s inaugural 2018 conference, visited thirty US cities in 30 days for one promotional tour, and accomplished a number of extra.
When he determined to go to Asia, Kim didn’t ask for cash from the Litecoin Basis—set as much as administer the event of the cryptocurrency—or the Litecoin neighborhood, he merely tweeted his intention, after which the next week he was in a first-class seat to Asia, courtesy of the OKEx crypto alternate and journey web site Travala (which gave him funds so he might pay in crypto at motels.)
His 13-year-old son, Jaedin, aka Łitecoin Evangelist Jr, is without doubt one of the few who by no means doubted his father’s mission, mentioned Kim. He provides his sons (his youngest, Jaemin, is three) LTC to spend on ice cream at Baskin Robbins, video games at GameStop, and film tickets on the AMC Film Theater.
Litecoin has earned a status for including new options and quickly integrating retail cost apps like SPEDN, which is able to let retailers settle for funds from clients’ telephones at over 40,000 areas.
Nowadays Kim is equally invested in BTC, LTC, and AMP, the token for Flexa, builders of the SPEDN, which partnered with the Gemini crypto alternate for the mission.
“My entire objective is to take a posh matter and simplify it,” mentioned Kim. “I believe 99% of individuals haven’t got the time or the mind or the chance to know the intricacies of a blockchain. Motion speaks louder than phrases. So I ship them somewhat little bit of Bitcoin, or Litecoin. And proper there, they’re offered.”
Giant-scale excursions are inconceivable with coronavirus however Kim nonetheless travels domestically and presents a weekly podcast referred to as ‘FunkyCrypto’, alongside retired MMA fighter Ben Askren. The collaboration took place when Kim noticed that Askew was following Lee, and flew out to the Olympian’s house in Wisconsin to ask him to grow to be an official member of the Litecoin neighborhood.
The Toyota of crypto
In latest weeks, a bull run has seen LTC’s prospects rise, alongside a bunch of different altcoins. At time of writing, LTC’s value is $88, however Kim’s work is much from finished. He predicts a repeat efficiency of 2017, when Litecoin began the 12 months at $4 and went up 2000% to $400. Subsequent 12 months, mentioned Kim emphatically, Litecoin will hit three digits—on the very least. “I name Litecoin the Toyota of blockchain and crypto,” mentioned Kim, who claims that the community has by no means skilled any downtime.
And additional enhancements are coming. This summer season, a brand new testnet launched implementing Mimblewimble, an opt-in privateness and fungibility characteristic developed in collaboration with its creators, BEAM. Fungibility, the place cash can’t be ‘tainted’ by what they’ve been used for up to now, is a serious promoting level.
Like many within the business, Kim is worked up by PayPal’s plans to integrate cryptocurrencies, introduced in October. Alongside this, he factors to the $400 million investment in Bitcoin made by Microstrategy CEO Michael Saylor, which many take into account has opened the floodgates for institutional traders.
“I believe 2021 will actually be the 12 months the place I show all people incorrect and I will be humble about it, however I’ll ensure that my children are taken care of for the remainder of their lives,’ he mentioned. “I made my promise to the local people, the Litecoin traders, that I can’t cease till we get again to an all-time excessive and Charlie is exonerated after which I could disappear.”
Kim, in the meantime, is having fun with the second. He not too long ago released his first music video, which incorporates a good dollop of his infectious, irreverent, however good-natured humor, in addition to visitor appearances by Charlie Lee and different Litecoin luminaries.
Whether or not LTC reaches triple digits or not subsequent 12 months, one factor is for certain, per Kim, “I do know no person is keen to go so far as I’ll go to indicate the world.”
