There’s an obvious coin joke somewhere between 50 Cent’s name and cryptocurrency Bitcoin. But unless you accidentally made eight million dollars from it, you can’t joke about 50’s business practices.

“Animal Ambition”

50 Cent made history by becoming the first rapper to accept Bitcoin payments for his sixth studio album “Animal Ambition”. Released in June 2014, it debuted at number four on the Billboard 200 and selling 47,000 copies in the United States during its first week. The subsequent week saw the album’s drop to number 15 on the chart and selling 17,000 copies. By December that year, album sales in the United States tallied to 124,000 copies. “Animal Ambition” earned 50 Cent a total of 700 Bitcoins, which at the time fell at approximately $463,000.

“I’m a keep it real…”

Fast forward to three and a half years later, Bitcoin is booming and everyone’s dying to get their hands on even just a piece. 50 Cent, on the other hand, actually forgot he had 700 Bitcoins just stashed in his account. The rapper and business mogul uploaded a screenshot of an article talking about his hidden riches on his Instagram account with the caption “Not Bad for a kid from South Side, I’m so proud of me.”

Bitcoin was only priced at $662 each during the release of “Animal Ambition” but the cryptocurrency’s value has skyrocketed. Its current value fluctuates between $10,000 to $12,000, turning 50 Cent’s original $463,000 into somewhere between seven million to eight and a half million dollars. What he comments on his original Instagram post, however, is absolutely priceless:

50 Cent Instagram comment on Bitcoin

50 Cent’s business practices sprinkled with a little luck is what got him out of bankruptcy early last year. On top of his accidental Bitcoin millions, he sold a $60 million share in Effen Vodka. He paid his $23 million worth of debt after two years from filing–the $8.7 million from his own money and the $13.65 million he received in a settlement of a legal malpractice lawsuit against other attorneys. Like the business genius he is, he paid off the supposed five-year plan early.

The people we look up to can and will make mistakes, we just hope the next mistake we make is stumbling across a hefty amount of Bitcoins lying around too! Just like 50’s album, “Get Rich or Die Tryin”.

Featured image from NYMag

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