Bitcoin Billionaire: I Regressed to Invest in the First Bitcoin!
Chapter 241 - 241: End of the Hunt

For the business and finance world of Los Alverez, it didn't take long for the news to explode.

The Bitcoin Hunt had come to an end: the treasure had been found!

Many people didn't believe it to be true, pointing out how extremely short the search had been. But the digital airwaves that crackled with the news were very adamant and certain on what they were saying.

It sent shockwaves through the crypto world especially since most of the world cared less about Bitcoin anyway:

The missing 1,200,000 Bitcoins, believed to be lost in the digital abyss of NakamuraGhost's wallet, had been found.

The hunt was over, the treasure claimed, and the internet erupted in a frenzy of speculation.

Forums buzzed, darknet threads exploded, and news channels scrambled to cover the story that had captivated hackers, investors, and dreamers alike.

The elusive fortune was no longer a myth or a rumor. Someone had actually cracked the code, and the world wanted to know who.

On the sleek set of Business Pulse, a premier financial news channel that was owned by a more independent studio, were one of the first to bring the news to light.

Their main host, Anchor Maya Chen, her dark hair swept into a polished bun, sat with a poised posture, and her uniform force was brightened with excitement. "Tonight, we're diving into the story shaking the crypto world: the recovery of 1,200,000 Bitcoins tied to the enigmatic darknet figure NakamuraGhost, who had died in a car accident a few weeks ago. Joining us is Brooklyn Baker, top journalist, commentator and market strategist. Brooklyn, what can you tell us about this historic find?"

The beautiful Brooklyn Baker sat across from Maya, her blonde hair catching the studio lights as she flashed the viewers a friendly but measured smile.

"Maya, it's a wild moment for the crypto community, as small as they are, they still are a community," she began. "These Bitcoins have been a holy grail since NakamuraGhost— who we are just finding out is actually named Vladimir Skinner — died in that car crash."

"Now these sources are out and it says the Bitcoins have been found which seems to be very very true. And now we have a game in our hands, don't we?"

Maya chuckled. "Yes we do. Everyone's speculating who found them."

Brooklyn nodded. "The loudest names out there... At least, the ones I've seen are; Adam Scotland, the longtime Bitcoin top owner, and, of course, our very own Darren Steele. But how can we say it's any of these two? We haven't seen a spike in their personal Bitcoin wallets. No massive transfers, no digital footprints. Who knows? It might not be them. Whoever has it is playing a very smart game, keeping it quiet. I heard NakamuraGhost was involved with bad people."

Maya tilted her head, intrigued. "I don't know, Brooklyn. I can bet my money that it will be Darren Steele who has it. And I think you would top."

Brooklyn chuckled. "Don't be so sure, Maya."

---------

In the mansion in Greenbaby, Darren Steele's Los Alverez home, he was lounged on a charcoal leather sectional, a glass of merlot in one hand, a bowl of sliced mango and kiwi on the coffee table before him.

He wore a simple black sweater and jeans, his dark brown hair slightly tousled, a rare moment of ease after the chaos of Berlin, Romania, and Zurich. He took a sip of wine, his lips curving into a smile as he watched Brooklyn on the screen.

"Been a while, Brooklyn," he murmured, his voice low, fond. Her sharp wit and familiar presence stirred a warmth he hadn't felt in weeks. 'I wonder how she's doing,' he thought, biting into a piece of mango, the sweet tang grounding him.

In the topic of the whole search thing, it was one of the most amusing things of what had happened.

Of course, his personal wallet hadn't spiked. Darren had made sure no single account held the treasure.

Using his Bitcoin Diversification protocol, he'd fragmented the 1,200,000 Bitcoins into thousands of micro-transactions, spreading them across hundreds of anonymous wallets. Each held small amounts— 50 coins here, 200 there— mimicking the trades of random investors.

The blockchain saw only noise, not a jackpot. 'It's funny watching them speculate,' he thought, amused. 'But they'll never trace it back.'

By 'they', he also meant the insane people on CryptoTracker.

His phone buzzed on the glass table, the screen lighting up with a notification from CryptoTracker. Darren set his wine down, and selected the notification to open the app, his eyes scanning the flood of comments under a trending thread: "Who Found Nakamura's 1.2M BTC?"

@ChainSnipe*: Gotta be Scotland. Dude's been hoarding since '09. Bet he's sitting on it like a dragon.

That was a reasonable guess and logic to back it, seeing that Adam Scotland did try to get the wallet.

@DarkPoolDiver: Nah, it's Steele. Guy's got the tech and the balls to pull it off. Check his moves in '14—same playbook.

'The tech?' Darren raised his brow. 'What does this guy think I am? Iron Man?'

@HandsomeDuckling: Eh, it could also be a nobody. Some hacker kid in a basement who got lucky. Wallet's too quiet for a big name.

@BitBlaze: The FED's definitely got it. Haven't y'all heard that the government is confiscating Bitcoin?

Darren chuckled, leaning back, the wineglass catching the TV's glow. 'They're having a field day as usual,' he thought, entertained by the wild guesses. 'Scotland, a kid, the FEDs, even though that makes a little sense— Wait what's this?'

He scrolled up, his thumb pausing on the button as his eyes glued to a headline from a crypto news page in the app:

"U.S. Senate Raises Concern Over Silk Road, Bringing BTC Into Law Enforcement Radar."

'What? It's already starting?'

The article detailed the government's latest move: the U.S. Treasury's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) had issued guidance classifying Bitcoin exchanges and administrators as money services businesses, subjecting them to anti-money laundering (AML) and know-your-customer (KYC) regulations.

Darren's eyes narrowed, his smile fading. 'Well, they're coming now,' he thought, his mind shifting to strategy.

The war against Bitcoin had already come and gone in his past timeline— government crackdowns, regulatory traps, and raids on exchanges. He'd seen it crush careless players. But he was ready. His diversification hid his tracks, and his offshore nodes, coded by Kara were untraceable.

'They'll have to dig deep to find me,' he thought, taking another sip of wine, his calm unshaken but alert. 'Still, I should think about befriending someone in the government.'

A sharp knock on the door broke his thoughts. Darren's brow creased, his hand pausing mid-sip.

'Who could that be?'

He set the glass down, walked to the door and peeped through the hole, expecting his mother.

But to his surprise, standing outside, framed by the hallway's soft lighting, was Brooklyn Baker.

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