Cobie's Journey: 375 Million USD and the Philosophy of 'Surviving' Rather than Maximizing Profits

Cobie – one of the biggest icons of crypto culture – just made a significant mark by selling the on-chain fundraising platform Echo to Coinbase for $375 million. Not long ago, Coinbase also acquired the NFT “UpOnly” – a legacy linked to his famous podcast program – for $25 million USDC, causing a stir in the online community.

However, behind the glamour of million-dollar deals, Cobie's journey is a story full of reality – about failure, patience, and clarity in a world where everyone wants to “get rich quick.”

Cobie## Start with 200 USD and confidence in Bitcoin

Cobie recounts that when he first entered the market, he only had 200 USD in hand. If he had simply bought Bitcoin and held it until now, that amount would have grown to 300,000 USD.

If you “superhumanize” every decision – buying at the bottom, selling at the top, and not having to pay taxes – you could have had 6 million USD. If you had put all that money into the Ethereum ICO in 2014, the figure could have reached 150 million USD.

But he emphasized: those are just unrealistic scenarios, where humans do not make mistakes, do not need to spend, and are not affected by real life, ( go to prison for a few years and then can: ))

Cobie said he comes from a normal working-class family. While in high school, he worked at Tesco supermarket, then paid off his student loans, rent, and living expenses on his own. He had worked for a few small startups with modest salaries before crypto completely changed his life.

Cobie's estimated assets currently amount to over 300 million USD.

Surviving and enjoying is more important than maximizing profits

Reflecting on his investment journey, Cobie admitted: “If I had avoided a few 'dumb' plays and tried a little harder, maybe I would be richer. But the path I have taken is also quite good already.”

For him, the top priority is not maximum profit, but to survive and enjoy the journey:

“I don't think my family will help if I fail, so I can't take risks. Crypto is a mental battle – I choose to invest in low-risk options to win that battle.”

Cobie also did not hesitate to criticize the current trend of “gambling” in the community – where people all-in on emerging coins, use 5x leverage, and hope for a 20% price increase to “take profit.”

“I almost never use leverage. If I do, it's to reduce risk. In the past 5 years, I've only used leverage to increase risk 3 times.”

Throughout his career, Cobie has only gone all-in twice – when he acquired Bitcoin and Ethereum. All other investments account for less than 1% of his portfolio, and he views each one as “gone to 0 until proven otherwise.”

“Clearly, I've made a lot of money – I've been here for 12 years now. But what makes me the happiest is still being able to play this game every day – and still having fun.”

From investor to builder of the new crypto generation

When starting to build Echo in 2024, Cobie did not have high expectations. He viewed it as an “experiment that could fail but is worth trying” – an opportunity to explore whether decentralized fundraising for early-stage projects is feasible.

Two years later, that very “experiment” became an important platform in the on-chain fundraising ecosystem, helping founders and investors connect directly through both private and public fundraising rounds. Echo is also a launchpad for many projects using the Sonar tool – a self-deploying solution for public token sales that was previously used by Plasma for the XPL release.

Cobie shares on X:

“When I started Echo, I thought there was a 95% chance of failure. To be honest, I couldn't imagine any other outcome. But I think at least it could be a worthwhile failure to try.”

However, fate took a different turn. Today, Echo officially becomes a part of Coinbase – one of the largest crypto companies in the world.

Cobie did not hide his surprise:

“I'm definitely not thinking that Echo will be sold to Coinbase, but here we are.”

He said that over the years, he has talked to the CEO of Coinbase – Brian Armstrong – “just to complain.” But what impresses him is how Brian “listens to an outsider rambling while still taking it seriously.”

Now, instead of just complaining, Cobie will have a real opportunity to participate in the process of improving the on-chain ecosystem. Echo will continue to operate independently, but the Sonar tool will be deeply integrated into Coinbase to expand access to capital for founders and investment opportunities for the community.

After the period of market stagnation, Cobie stated that he feels “energized” by the innovations taking place in the crypto world – from high-speed decentralized exchanges like Hyperliquid, to the security projects of Zcash and the “new boom cycle of stablecoins”.

“It feels really great to be back on the field, instead of just being a meaningless yapping person on Twitter,” he joked. “Anyway, the work is not finished yet. Let's keep going.”

Crypto – not a lottery ticket, but a game of discipline and survival

Cobie's story is a living proof of one thing:

Crypto is not a lottery ticket.

It is a long game of discipline, patience, and survival.

From a guy with 200 USD, working at Tesco supermarket, to a startup seller for Coinbase worth hundreds of millions – Cobie did not “get rich quick”. He built slowly, sustainably, and intelligently, step by step, over more than a decade.

And that – not just lucky breaks – is the true value of the journey that you are “still continuing”.

Thạch Sanh