Home / News

12-Year-Old’s Lost Video Has Resurfaced, Discussing Bitcoin at $8 and the Power of Peer-to-Peer Transactions

A 12-year-old explains Bitcoin at $8 in 2011 – years before it became a global phenomenon. A forgotten prediction now going viral.

In 2011, a 12-year-old named Tom recorded a YouTube video explaining Bitcoin, then trading at a mere $8. He described it as a “peer-to-peer virtual currency,” a concept that was still obscure to most. With remarkable clarity, Tom outlined Bitcoin’s decentralized nature, how it allowed transactions without a central authority, and even speculated—perhaps cynically—that governments might eventually try to shut it down.

For 13 years, the video sat unnoticed, a digital relic of the early crypto era. That changed a few days ago when crypto enthusiasts on X (Twitter) unearthed it, declaring Tom an accidental visionary. Almost immediately, a Solana-based memecoin, $TPU—named after his old YouTube channel as an acronym—was launched in his honor. What began as an inside joke among Bitcoin maximalists and crypto traders quickly spiraled into a viral phenomenon. The $TPU community managed to locate Tom—now in his mid-20s—and sent him a sizable portion of the coin.

The peer-to-peer (P2P) revolution Tom described has evolved dramatically since his video. Bitcoin, once dismissed as a niche experiment, has become a trillion-dollar asset, with governments and financial institutions actively integrating blockchain technology. P2P transactions, which eliminate the need for intermediaries, have expanded beyond cryptocurrency. Platforms like Ethereum have given rise to decentralized finance (DeFi), where users can lend, borrow, and trade assets without banks. Meanwhile, P2P file sharing, once synonymous with piracy, has matured into legitimate, blockchain-powered content distribution models.

Yet, as Tom predicted, governments have indeed wrestled with P2P’s implications. While Bitcoin remains legal, regulators worldwide have imposed strict rules on exchanges and privacy-focused networks.

Whether $TPU is a fleeting gimmick or a lasting tribute remains to be seen. What is certain is that a long-forgotten video has resurfaced as a testament to the foresight of a 12-year-old, reminding the world just how unpredictable the evolution of technology—and finance—can be.

NORDVPN DISCOUNT - CircleID x NordVPN
Get NordVPN  [74% +3 extra months, from $2.99/month]
By CircleID Reporter

CircleID’s internal staff reporting on news tips and developing stories. Do you have information the professional Internet community should be aware of? Contact us.

Visit Page

Filed Under

Comments

Comment Title:

  Notify me of follow-up comments

We encourage you to post comments and engage in discussions that advance this post through relevant opinion, anecdotes, links and data. If you see a comment that you believe is irrelevant or inappropriate, you can report it using the link at the end of each comment. Views expressed in the comments do not represent those of CircleID. For more information on our comment policy, see Codes of Conduct.

CircleID Newsletter The Weekly Wrap

More and more professionals are choosing to publish critical posts on CircleID from all corners of the Internet industry. If you find it hard to keep up daily, consider subscribing to our weekly digest. We will provide you a convenient summary report once a week sent directly to your inbox. It's a quick and easy read.

Related

Topics

DNS

Sponsored byDNIB.com

Brand Protection

Sponsored byCSC

Cybersecurity

Sponsored byVerisign

Threat Intelligence

Sponsored byWhoisXML API

New TLDs

Sponsored byRadix

Domain Names

Sponsored byVerisign

IPv4 Markets

Sponsored byIPv4.Global