NBA Star Kevin Durant Regains Access to 2016 Coinbase Account (BTC Was $650)

In an exciting turn of events, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong confirms that the exchange has recovered an account belonging to National Basketball Association (NBA) player Kevin Durant. The Houston Rockets forward reportedly purchased BTC in 2016, when the price was around $650 per coin.

However, they have since been locked out of the account for unknown reasons. Speculations include that he had forgotten his login credentials or had not remembered the investment, given how Bitcoin was less popular at the time. Nonetheless, Durant would be smiling to the bank this week after regaining access to the Coinbase account.

To be clear, it is unknown exactly how much he invested in Bitcoin at the time. Yet, even a $650 investment, which was the price for one BTC at the time, would be worth $117,000 at current prices, a massive 180,000 times return on investment.

One would not be wrong to expect, though, that the amount would be in the millions. As of 2016, Kevin Durant was the seventh-highest-paid NBA player, according to ESPN data, which listed him as having a $20.1 million contract while playing for the Oklahoma City Thunder.

To Self-Custody or Not? The Kevin Durant Lesson

News of the NBA’s Kevin Durant’s recovery of their Coinbase account has been met with mixed reactions from the crypto community, especially on X. While some argue that he has only been able to recover the account because of being a star and thus able to attract Coinbase’s attention, others focus on the main benefit that comes from storing crypto with a custodian.

Several stories abound of people who missed out on life-changing profits from their early Bitcoin investment simply because they chose to self-custody. For instance, one popular story involves a UK man, James Howells, who claims his girlfriend mistakenly disposed of a hard drive with access to 8,000 bitcoins as far back as 2013. If the investment was stored with a third-party exchange like Coinbase, perhaps there may still be hope of a recovery through account verification.

Ultimately, users have the final say in where to store their coins, with self-custody remaining the preferred option, even among experienced investors. Yet, one might correctly argue that Kevin Durant’s case proves that there is value in using reliable exchange providers as an option for storing away such long-term wealth.

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