960,000 Euros.
Risto, in all due respect (genuine friend), in my opinion you should have stuck to trading.
Those who want to launch crypto-currency businesses will hire (or be) programmers.
Buying old buildings is a very roundabout way to involve programmers.
The new elite will not be those who held the most crypto-currency units, rather it will be the ones who know how to create technology within the ecosystem. We are moving away from stored capital and to active knowledge. We are moving away from human organization to algorithmic organization. Math will trump social and capital ranking.
Stay within your core expertise, or possibly lose everything getting sucked deeper into a bad decision that you can't abort.
> * Why did you choose Malla manor?
Although I am a Finn and live in Finland, I have for long had most of my business in Estonia taken care by local staff. I wanted a big house that would be able to host large gatherings of Bitcoin people, and both the buying and operating such would have been much more expensive in Finland. To have a place with centuries of history at an affordable price would have been difficult.
Surely housing isn't 960,000 Euros in Finland nor Estonia.
The time to buy your expensive toys is when your formerly 10,000 BTC (apparently you sold a large chunk in the $600-700 range?) would be priced at $5,000 per BTC, so it would only be a couple percent of your net worth. Especially considering we are facing a global economic collapse by 2016ish, and the price of manors will plummet. Also I'm not clear if the 10,000 BTC was all yours or included BTC you were managing in a mixed fund. If that was all yours and if you still have a sizable position of silver, then perhaps the manor was only a few percent of your net worth? In which case, I simply advise to move forward more cautiously and see if it takes hold organically without becoming obsessed to the point where you can't stop if it is failing.
This wasn't a decision about efficiency, it was a decision about your dreams of what would be fun and neato. Unfortunately as far as I can see, the concept doesn't match where we are headed in the world.
960,000 is not the end of it. You have to refurbish, furnish, hire and manage employees, etc.. This is so debilitating and dilutive to your available time and focus for your core expertise, ditto for someone like me who is a programmer. Delegation is never 100%.
Estonia has a long culture of manors, and there were many to choose from. Malla immediately caught my attention because of its sheer beauty and majesty. Also the structural renovation had been carried out almost completely, which means that it could rather quickly be raised to its former glory given enough funds. The outbuildings are already restored and can be used immediately. But that is all logical stuff, the real reason is the Malla Spirit, which just captured me and did not let go...
> * How often do you visit Estonia? When the renovation of the manor is completed, are you planning to reside there?
I am visiting Estonia about 2 times per month currently. I have many businesses and staff there. I will continue to live in Finland with my family, but hopefully we will have a long summer holiday together in Malla this summer.
> * How is a bitcoin millionaire different from a cash millionaire?
A typical bitcoin millionaire is a very intelligent young (25-35) white male, with high earning capability.
I disagree with the bolded part. I see moderately intelligent guys investing in Bitcoin and not the most intelligent.
You are very effective as a focused trader. When you step outside your specialty, it will be revealed to you whether you are a polymath.
Again a friend should speak candidly, and respectfully.
