Govind Thanabalasingam’s first encounter with Bitcoin dates back to early 2013, in a seemingly ordinary setting: his university’s computer labs. Alongside two friends, Govind was captivated by this emerging digital currency. His friends were bold enough to dive into mining, setting up Antpool to operate stealthily across over 40 lab computers. Within a week, they managed to mine 2.5 Bitcoins when Bitcoin was valued at around $40 USD. But their excitement was short-lived when they returned to the lab to find a message on the computers: “We know what you are doing; stop it immediately or face academic suspension.” They complied, transferring the mined Bitcoin to Mt. Gox, the leading exchange of the time. Govind, however, decided on a different approach. Running multiple successful online businesses, he saw it as more efficient to buy Bitcoin directly. He sent $4,000 USD to Mt. Gox, intending to buy 100 Bitcoins. Days passed with no update, and then Mt. Gox suddenly went offline, the result of the devastating infamous hack. His friends lost their 2.5 Bitcoins, though Govind’s funds were luckily returned to his bank account. This experience led him to dismiss Bitcoin, misunderstanding the event as a failure of Bitcoin itself rather than a vulnerability of the exchange.

By 2017, his outlook on Bitcoin had evolved. Watching visionary figures endorse Bitcoin as a revolutionary asset experiencing a natural boom-bust cycle, he plunged into understanding blockchain’s fundamentals. Working as an analyst and manager across several digital marketing agencies, Govind applied skills from growth hacking his own ventures to these new roles. With each paycheck, he dollar cost averaged into Bitcoin and Ethereum. Convinced that the 2020 Bitcoin halving event would fuel another bull run, he focused increasingly on crypto, ultimately shifting his career entirely. This conviction led him to take a career pivot in 2020, joining a trading firm in Sydney as part of its emerging cryptocurrency division. Opting to receive his salary in Ethereum rather than AUD, Govind showed his confidence in the sector’s potential.

On March 13, 2020, the world experienced a black swan event as COVID-19 wreaked havoc on global markets. Crypto was no exception, and Govind’s leveraged Bitcoin position on BitMEX was caught in the crossfire, resulting in liquidation. Believing that if cryptocurrency could survive such a crisis, it would be positioned for unprecedented growth, he went all in. Govind poured his entire savings, proceeds from selling his online businesses, and even his superannuation into expanding his Ethereum holdings. He also went on to acquire a significant position in Cardano (ADA), intrigued by their scientific peer-reviewed approach and its proof-of-stake consensus mechanism, which Ethereum had not yet implemented. His total accumulated Ethereum came in at a fortunate $130 USD per ETH, and his average for Cardano was $0.10 per ADA.

By the close of 2021, Govind’s foresight and calculated risk-taking had transformed his personal portfolio into a seven-figure success. Inspired by the possibilities of Web3 and with a mission to support the most transformative technologies of the coming decades, he made the leap to establish Digital Empire Capital. Today, he channels his experience as a seasoned Web 2.0 entrepreneur and early adopter in Web3 to guide ventures on the frontier of digital innovation.