“I Just Didn’t Want to Disappear:” How a Homeless Man from San Diego Made $217,000 from Crypto in 2 Months
By: Jake Maddox | Crypto Stories | Published: April 2025
In mid-February, Mark was sitting under I-5 in San Diego. He bought his jacket at a thrift store three winters ago. His backpack had protruding threads, and it smelled of mold. It was +11 outside, but it felt like zero because the body of a tired person gets cold faster.
He was drinking cheap coffee from a vending machine at a 24-hour gas station and wondered where his life had gone.
“I wasn’t bad. I just made a mistake. Once, twice – and you’re on the street. And you don’t know how to get back.”
Mark used to work as an auto mechanic. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, he had a steady stream of customers and enough money to live a modest and comfortable life. The man had an old but reliable Jeep Grand Cherokee SUV, which took a big part of his nostalgic memories. He lived in a friend’s house where he had a room. Mark and his friend had a good time together in the evenings, drinking beer and grilling steaks in the backyard.
However, when the workshop closed, debts began to accumulate. Mark had disagreements with his friend, who had been helping the man for quite a long time. Eventually, Mark had to move to rented housing, after which he lived in a friend’s garage before he ended up in a tent on the outskirts. When someone stole his backpack with documents and a phone, he realized that his previous life was only a memory. It was scary. It seemed that the whole world was against him.
He had a family. His mother was in Texas, and his brother lived in Georgia. But he stopped calling Mark. His shame won over his love.
“You don’t want your Mom to hear you over the street when you can’t even tell her where you sleep… when you’re not a man anymore but just… a shadow, no one, nothing. It was depressing to the point of insanity…”
________________________________________
Library as Salvation from Silence
Mark went to the city library every morning. Not for the books, but because it was warm, there were outlets, a toilet with a mirror, and free Wi-Fi. Linda, the librarian, knew him not just by sight but almost like an employee. Once, she even gave him a coffee mug and told him to return it when he became a millionaire.
He always took his place in the far corner, took out his old smartphone with a cracked screen, connected to Wi-Fi, and watched YouTube. At first, he did that because he couldn’t stand the silence.
Then, he started googling “how to make money online” and other similar queries.
He watched videos about marketplaces, Amazon, TikTok, sports betting, MLM projects, and hundreds of other dubious schemes. It all seemed diabolically fake.
Over time, YouTube began recommending videos about crypto: news, interviews, statements by politicians, ETFs, regulation, bitcoin reserves, crypto trading, altseason, and dozens of other incomprehensible terms. Mark didn’t understand anything, but he felt that the world was somehow changing and something new was happening, and he was a stranger on that list. The man felt an emptiness he desperately wanted to fill.
On one of his regular weekdays, he watched a video where a guy from Australia was talking about crypto arbitrage – the difference in the price of one coin on different exchanges.
“I thought then: it makes sense. Buy where it’s cheaper. Sell where it’s more expensive. And it’s not a risky game where you have to guess something or bet everything on zero. It’s a craft. Like a regular profession, but in finance. The video was understandable even to me, whose brain has atrophied over many years on the street.”
________________________________________
The First Hook and the Table That Changed Everything
The video description contained links to online services: vaultedmind.com, tangledbits.com, and hiddenvertex.com, which compared data across cryptocurrency exchanges and found price discrepancies. Mark followed those monitoring services and saw tables that displayed real-time coin rates on dozens of exchanges. He saw that XRP was worth $2.37 on one exchange and $2.51 on another.
“At first, I didn’t believe it. I thought it was a delay due to the slow internet on my glued smartphone or a bug on the exchange sites. However, after watching many videos on this topic, I checked the exchange rates manually. And I quickly realized that was true. There were “forks” – the same as in those videos I had watched thousands of times! You just had to catch them in time.”
He printed out the table on the library printer. He wrote notes in a notebook by hand, recording the type of coin, the price difference, transaction time, fees, and network load. Mark started every morning by opening vaultedmind.com or other crypto scanners and following the top 30 coins.
________________________________________
Problem #1: Money
Understanding the scheme was half a work. But Mark needed at least $50 to “get into the game.” The man turned to Joe – an old-timer at the shelter with whom they used to stand in line for a free dinner. Mark showed him his notebook.
“I didn’t just ask for money. I came up with a specific plan and scheme. I explained to him how it worked. He slowly reached into his pocket, pulled out a package, and gave me $82 without counting! “That’s all I have, bro,” that was what he said.”
________________________________________
Problem #2: Documents and Exchanges
After the theft, Mark had no ID, which meant he had no access to KYC. He knew large exchanges like Binance, Bybit, or OKX required verification. Luckily, Linda – that same librarian – helped him apply for a temporary ID. While Mark was waiting for the documents, Joe suggested using his documents to sign in to the exchanges and go through the verification procedure (KYC).
“I didn’t want to break the law. But I also didn’t want to waste time and miss the chance to multiply $82. So, we registered Joe on all the exchanges and passed verification.
________________________________________
First Deal and the First $6.75
“Before I even had time to reach my corner in the library, as soon as my phone connected to Wi-Fi, I habitually went to tangledbits.com, which had an incredible discrepancy in the price of the Solana coin on one of the Korean exchanges. I quickly bought the coin on Binance and sold it on another exchange. After all the commissions, I got a $6.75 net profit in USDT (digital dollar).”
He laughed hysterically. Not because of the amount he got but because he did that! That formula, system, or scheme was working. He was filled with euphoria and knew he could repeat it and multiply the deposit. But the best thing was that it was honest money out of thin air, and he could get it due to sharp price jumps in the market (increased volatility), which cannot always quickly stabilize due to the lack of trading volumes on smaller exchanges.
“It was my first income in a year. Not someone’s help. Not charity. But the money I made from honest work and my intelligence! I deserved it. I felt confident in the future! That feeling was indescribable!”
________________________________________
The Next Two Weeks – 97 Deals, 4 Mistakes, 18 Sleepless Nights
Mark didn’t hurry up. He began to work as an accountant with all those spreadsheets, various calculations, and different types of coins. He used three crypto scanners because he didn’t want to miss a single opportunity.
The man spent every evening in the library until closing. Linda sometimes left him under the stairs while she was washing the floor. He ate at the shelter and slept for 6 hours. Linda gave him her father’s old clothes so people in the library would no longer complain about Mark’s smell. But despite all the difficulties, he had 100% energy, faith, and enthusiasm.
After 3 weeks, Mark already had $1,820. After a month and a half, he had $32,000. Mark could finally rent a room, get a new phone, and buy new sneakers and a jacket. And, of course, he could eat what he had long dreamed of: a big juicy steak and burgers with a double patty…
________________________________________
A Sharp Rise
There once was an XLM fork on hiddenvertex.com – the price difference was almost 8%. It was a perfect opportunity. Mark invested $28,720. The deal was successful, as expected: sent, sold, and got it back. The profit was $2,297 for one transaction.
“That was the moment when I realized – I wasn’t homeless anymore and would never be homeless again. I was in the game. I was alive! I made it, God damn it!”
After another month and a half, his portfolio reached $204,000. He rented an apartment in a quiet area, bought an old Toyota Camry, examined his health, and started taking vitamins, doing sports, and sleeping 8 hours. He saw the world with different eyes.
“For the first time in two years, I woke up and didn’t hear sirens. I had clean water and fresh salmon, vegetables, and fruits. No more burgers from a basket! I felt the taste of life again and found strength. I got some freedom.”
________________________________________
Sending Light to Others
Mark didn’t become an influencer. He didn’t start a YouTube channel. He just bought two phones and came to the library.
He gave one to Linda and the second to Joe.
“Without you, I would have frozen and disappeared. You just gave me a hot mug worth a whole life, which I didn’t appreciate as much as I do now. Thank you!”
Later, he began to gather people at the shelter. He showed them how to make money, create crypto wallets, transfer coins, calculate fees, and use crypto scanners and other services for analysis and monitoring.
“I don’t need fans. I need people who can be there for me, and I will be there for them. They, like me, are now climbing out of the rock bottom, from which just a few can return. But luckily, I can help them, which is an indescribable feeling of strength and joy!”
________________________________________
It is an impressive story that proves the impossible is possible and everyone can start a new life. You only need to want it and start acting.
Mark says he has no secret. But this guy is so strong.
“I just listened, watched, and studied. I didn’t make fun of the guys from YouTube but tried to get to the bottom of it. I didn’t brush off the idea but took the first step. Then, another step, and another, and another one…”
His most memorable words in the interview were: “Life doesn’t immediately turn its face to you – it clicks quietly and slowly, like the button you click to confirm transfer.”
If you feel like you’re at rock bottom, please do not forget someone’s rock bottom is much deeper than yours. And if Mark managed to get out of it, you can do it, either!
