Budapest was freezing in December (hence the cheap flights) and I feared the worst for the second leg of my trip. I was already craving the comfort of friends and familiar surroundings, like the novice traveler that I was. Luckily, Budapest was a completely different experience altogether. I arrived at the hostel, a modest affair with several rooms of six to eight bunks each, and was greeted by a friendly Australian fellow at the front desk.
“Ya must be ‘ere for the bath party, aye?”
“Bath party?”
“At Gellert, the ‘ostels always fill up on the bath party weekends.”
I thought, so that’s why I had so much trouble finding a cheap room. It was strange this was the only room available near Heroes’ Square, the statue complex featuring important Hungarian leaders near the banks of the Danube. Not having any better plans, and sensing this was clearly the place to drink that night, I inquired about the party and bought myself a ticket to the bacchanalia at the Turkish bath. A small contingent from the hostel had the same idea, and while we pregamed, my new friends acquainted me to my surroundings.
Viktor, a prodigious coder in his early 20s, was the first to open up. He had a gentle, almost overly friendly demeanor, but it belied a rare intelligence. He was accompanied by a strange fellow five or six years his senior. Gavin was an electrical engineer who lived in Silicon Valley, though no one would fault you for assuming he was a rancher. His tough manner and ever-present cowboy hat (which he would later inform me was actually a Borsalino safari hat) were relics of a youth spent in the Central Valley, the bucolic heart of California. The unlikely pair met on a forum while discussing the technological implications of a revolutionary research paper published by a man who went by the moniker Satoshi Nakamoto. The paper, titled “Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System” was unknown to me, but Viktor and Gavin were clearly excited by its prospects. They had far higher intellectual aspirations than I did for my stay in Budapest.
“So what brought you two out here?” I asked.
“Viktor was visiting his grandparents in Belgrade and I was on sabbatical from work, taking some courses at LMU Munich. We were on a thread discussing cryptocurrencies and we found we had a shared vision for the potential of the bitcoin solution. So we met about halfway, here in Budapest to discuss business applications.”
Fearing the conversation was heading far above my level of comprehension, I nodded with false affirmation and moved to pour another round of cheap vodka, directing the conversation to more mundane matters, like the quality of kebabs across the European continent and the superior quality of weed in legalized markets like Amsterdam. After several more rounds, we crossed the Széchenyi Chain Bridge to Buda and our band of merrymakers arrived to witness the famed bath party for ourselves. We weren’t disappointed. What ensued was a party of epic proportions, with beautiful and ugly Hungarians alike engaged in various stages of sexual activity in the giant indoor pool. Cirque du Soleil style aerial acrobatics paired well with the hardcore Eastern European trance that blared over the 1000 watt subs.
We couldn’t help but revel in the sheer audacity of the event, something we had never seen the likes of stateside. These Hungarians sure knew how to party. I found myself thoroughly inebriated and immediately started buying everyone drinks, betraying my economic standing. The fact that I was not hard up for cash while a global recession raged on wasn’t exactly unremarkable. It proved to be a good thing, for if it had not been for my loose wallet, I doubt Gavin and Viktor would have paid me much mind after that night.
The next day I awoke from my drunken stupor, to Viktor and Gavin hovering over me.
“Hurry up and get ready. We’re going out for lunch.”
It was Viktor, so I agreed. I got ready while they waited and we went off to find lunch. In the daylight, Budapest is a glamorous city, and the dusting of snow gave it an ethereal glow. It has been described as The Little Paris, but already I realized that was shortchanging the unique architecture and culture of this beautiful metropolis. We headed to Fisherman’s Bastion, a decorative fortification on the Buda side of town that somewhat resembles the Disney logo. The Halászbástya Restaurant, located in the structure, offered terrific views and some of the freshest fish in the city. As we enjoyed the sensory delights that affronted us, Gavin asked what brought me to Europe on my own. I told him I was another victim of the mortgage crisis which had led to waves of layoffs for analysts at all the big banks. I explained that I’d been saving and investing so that I could just travel, in search of the next adventure.
“So you live off income from trading?”
“More or less.”
“That requires quite a bit of capital to generate enough income to travel around all year, no? If you’re not taking on foolish amounts of risk, which I gather you wouldn’t be the type to do, you’re easily sitting on a 100 grand.”
“Something like that,” I said, as noncommittal as possible.
But Gavin was tactical and quickly made an estimation of my holdings without being overly intrusive.
Taking into account my unemployed status, interest in finance, and the amount of investment capital I had, I guess he found me an interesting candidate to help further their plans. He must have made some discreet signal to Viktor who began to elaborate further.
“The reason we met so hurriedly, is that we both sense there’s a major opportunity with bitcoin. It has unique philosophical and political implications, and of course there’s a ton of money to be made.”
I noticed he put philosophy before economics, and made a mental note that this wasn’t your typical entrepreneur. In time, I would learn just how atypical Viktor was.
“I literally know nothing about cryptocurrencies,” I countered.
“It doesn’t matter, we don’t need a bitcoin expert, we need someone with capital and connections,"
Gavin interjected, “and you’ve clearly got both. The three of us can make some waves with technology like this.”
I didn’t trust Gavin yet, but Viktor, one couldn’t help but trust him fully. His intelligent earnestness was something that made everyone want to protect him like a younger brother. I thought about it harder, maybe this was the next opportunity I was waiting for, the door to the next leg of my journey. They were both clearly very sharp and seemed to be way ahead of the curve on this new technology. I asked what kind of capital they were looking for and was astonished by the response. They said $40,000 would get the venture off the ground and get me an equal 1/3 stake. I was in.