The Signal
Andrew Tate says his crypto history reaches back to Bitcoin around $3,000, Ether around $200, and an early PancakeSwap position that briefly generated extraordinary returns. He kept it quiet, he says, because advertising effortless gains would encourage young followers to gamble — and because publicly explaining where his money came from felt dangerous.
Key Takeaways
- 01
Crypto before the celebrity cycle
Tate says he entered during the 2017-era bull run, bought Bitcoin near $3,000, later publicly announced a $500,000 purchase after the crash, and held Ether from roughly $200.
- 02
PancakeSwap was the windfall
He recalls buying PancakeSwap near 50 cents and at one point making about $500,000 every three or four days, before selling a large portion somewhere around $18.
- 03
He refused to sell easy money
Tate says telling young people that buying a coin is the way out would be irresponsible because new tokens are effectively a gamble. He prefers tying financial progress to work rather than promising that a purchase alone will make someone rich.
- 04
Privacy was part of the strategy
Beyond responsibility, he says he came from an environment where broadcasting a watch or a lucrative income stream could make someone a target. Even now, he argues, most people know he has money without knowing the mechanics behind it.
On the Record
“I was in pancakes SW for like 50 cents”
“I refuse to tell people just buy you'll just make money easy”
“if I tell you to buy something and it goes down you cry to me if it goes up you keep the money”
The Breakdown
The crypto résumé people missed
Threadguy opens by contrasting Tate's recent crypto-facing content with a much longer history that many viewers do not know. Tate dates his entry to the bull run when Bitcoin first reached $20,000: he says he was buying around $3,000, announced a half-million-dollar purchase after the market fell back toward $3,000–$4,000, and owned Ether from roughly $200.
The PancakeSwap run
The biggest returns, Tate says, came from PancakeSwap. He recalls entering near 50 cents and reaching a stretch where the position produced about $500,000 every three or four days — enough that he kept thinking it could not be real. The token later climbed into the tens of dollars; he cannot recall the exact exit, but says he sold a large amount around $18.
Why he did not talk about it
Tate gives two reasons for staying quiet. First, he did not see a useful lesson in telling followers that a millionaire became richer by buying a coin; he calls that framing destructive because it makes gambling sound like the only escape. He notes that he could risk so much only because he already had between half a million and $2 million available to lose.
No interest in converting strangers
He contrasts his approach with Bitcoin evangelists who recite supply limits and Federal Reserve arguments whenever someone asks whether to buy. Tate's stock answer is simply that people can buy if they want: he will not promise profits, and he sees no upside in becoming responsible for someone else's loss while they keep any gain.
Money without a map
The final reason is security. Tate says earning huge sums from a few clicks made him wonder what the catch was, not announce the method publicly. He describes growing up around people who could identify a watch and club from an Instagram post, and says that even today outsiders may know about his online school without knowing whether he owns it, works for it, markets it, or how his broader portfolio operates.
Distilled from the episode transcript · Counterparty Recap Desk
