By now many people have heard of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrency, even if they still don’t quite understand how it works. While cryptocurrency can be a confusing concept, one thing about it is quite clear: its value is astronomical. If you bought in the early days you’d probably be able to retire quite wealthy today.

So I asked ChatGPT to break it down for me: When would I be able to retire if I bought Bitcoin in 2010? I fed ChatGPT my age (cough, middle-aged, cough) and here’s what it said.

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In 2010, Bitcoin (BTC) traded at around $0.06 per BTC on average (never cracking more than $1 that year), because the world — certainly not me! — had no concept that someday cryptocurrencies would be in demand. Flash to now, mid-2025, Bitcoin is trading at approximately $60,000 per BTC (it fluctuates, but ChatGPT is using a round number for ease).

So: If you had bought one Bitcoin in 2010 for $0.06, it would be worth $60,000 today.

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If I follow the general retirement advice that one should retire with at least $1.5 million, which ChatGPT called “a fairly conservative nest egg for early retirement,” I’d need to have minimum 25 BTC to get to $1.5 million. “Thus, if you bought just $1.50 worth of Bitcoin in 2010 (25 BTC), and held it until today, you could theoretically retire with $1.5 million in 2025,” ChatGPT wrote.

That means someone my age who invested even modestly in Bitcoin in 2010 could very realistically be retiring right now.

Of course, there are some assumptions within this, that ChatGPT pointed out:

• You held your BTC through extreme volatility.

• You didn’t lose access to your wallet (a common fate).

• You sold at or near peak (or today’s) value.

If I had bought $100 worth of Bitcoin in 2010, here’s how the numbers shake out:

• $100 / $0.06 = 1,666 BTC

• 1,666 BTC x $60,000 = ~$100 million

I wouldn’t just be retired, ChatGPT wrote, I’d be “ultra-retired.”

So while theoretically one can be a Bitcoin millionaire in retirement, how realistic is it to actually cash out this money? ChatGPT explained.

While I could cash out my theoretical BTC millions, it’s not as simply as just hitting “sell” on Coinbase and expecting a wire transfer for $60 million the next day, ChatGPT warned.

Why?

• Liquidity risk: BTC’s price is controlled by how it moves in the market. Selling too much at once could drop the price, especially on lower-volume exchanges.

• Exchange limits: Most exchanges have daily and/or weekly withdrawal limits, with a few exceptions. Most of these are in the low-to-mid six figures for an individual investor.

• Banking issues: Even if you could withdraw $10 million tomorrow, your bank might freeze or reject the transfer or flag it for compliance review.