Two brothers hailing from New York who ran a wedding video business were nearly destroyed financially by the covid-19 pandemic as their business suffered losses after to-be-wed couples cancelled their orders.
The siblings, Tommy, 38, and James, 42, who asked not to publish their full name due to security reasons began considering other ways to earn money. They were recommended by a friend, who is also a cryptocurrency expert, to invest their money in the meme-currency Shiba Inu in December, 2020.
At that time, the coin was trading at just a fraction of a cent and the two were hesitant to pour in their savings in to something new and unheard of. The duo initially invested $100 each respectively purchasing $200 worth of Shiba Inu coins.
After seeing good profits for their initial investment, the brothers convinced their sister and mother to pour in their money and purchased the coins worth $7,900.
On the morning of April 17, 2021, Tommy and James woke up to see the price of Shiba Inu skyrocketing and their investment turned them into millionaires overnight. ''I trusted my friend and I figured if it went to zero, that's OK. I thought of it as a lotto ticket that wouldn't expire,'' said Tommy to CNN.
Tommy revealed that his mother and sister were skeptical at first and worried that it would wipe their savings off. ''My mother and sister were skeptical but they each put in $100, too. We woke up the next morning and it doubled. We were like, 'Oh my god'. Then it went up to $700,000 and I told my brother it's going to hit a million. I kept refreshing my phone.''
The very next day, Tommy's prediction came true as their holdings hit a million. ''The day it hit a million, my mom and sister, they didn't think it was real.'' The brothers stated that their holdings is currently worth $9 million, CNN Business confirmed.
The brothers revealed that they are yet to cash out from Shiba Inu completely and are holding out to most of their holdings in the hopes of being multi-millionaires.
When asked what would the family do with the fortunes they've earned, Tommy said, ''This has happened so quickly it's hard to even comprehend the things you can do with this money. My parents' house needs a new roof, so I'll take care of that,'' he summed it up.
