New Delhi: Two and a half years ago, the Bachchans invested in a company not known by many. The company was Meridian Tech Pte, a Singapore based company. The company owned Ziddu.com. The portal in those days described itself as "an empowering free cloud storage, global wallet, social commerce & social gaming platform startup".
The move fetched the Bachchans a minority stake in the parent company Meridian Tech but made news mainly because it was their first significant equity investment in an overseas company. Ziddu-.com — was then acquired by other company LongFin Corp. Since Bachchans held shares in Meridian Tech Pte, they received 250,000 shares of LongFin Ziddu-.com purchase.
This change also saw it change from being a facilitator of cloud storage to now being described as "a Blockchain technology empowered solutions provider" that offers microfinance using "cryptocurrencies across continents." And that's where the magic happened.
The simple investment news shocked everybody when Bachchans’ investment worth $250,000 gave them returns of $17,500,000 ($17.5 million).
Yes, you heard it right. The amount in Indian rupees is Rs 114 crore; read that as Rs 114, 00, 00,000.
Almost overnight, thanks to magic words like "blockchain" and "cryptocurrencies", the LongFin stock rose more than 1,000 per cent last week and finally surging more than 2,500 per cent last Friday (December 15) when the deal to acquire Ziddu.com was announced.
According to the report, "In lieu of their holding in Meridian Tech, Bachchans received 2,50,000 shares of LongFin following the asset purchase."
As a part of the acquisition, LongFin agreed to buy Ziddu from Meridian Enterprises in exchange for 2.5 million shares of the company. Given the world's current craze for anything and everything involving cryptocurrencies, the news of the acquisition spurred unprecedented interest in LongFin, which saw its stock price soar 223 per cent the same day. The stock that started trading on the NASDAQ at $5 is currently trading at $77, up 1440 per cent.
At Monday's (December 18) LongFin stock price of $70 a share, Bachchans' holding in LongFin which like we mentioned above is valued at $17.5 million (and at the current exchange rate, it is approximately Rs 114 crore).
Cryptocurrency vs Blockchain vs Bitcoin
Cryptocurrency: Cryptocurrency is a digital currency in which encryption techniques are used to regulate the generation of units of currency and verify the transfer of funds.
Blockchain: Blockchain a technology in which transactions made in digital currencies are recorded chronologically and publicly. Blockchain as a technology supports Bitcoin trading, but it not synonymous with Bitcoin. Blockchain can be used for a wide variety of applications, such as tracking ownership or the provenance of documents, digital assets, physical assets or even voting rights.
Bitcoin: Bitcoin is a type of cryptocurrency, which operates on the encryption technique, but does not have a legal backing from the central bank. It is an unregulated digital private currency created by Satoshi Nakamoto in 2009.