The price of BTC had increased in value significantly over the years, reaching $19,600 at its highest peak – and the exchange rate rests at $8,500 today. This is a stark contrast to just over a year ago when the digital currency’s value was under $1,000 per coin. Since the fiat value has increased so much it has made some early investors very rich. Moreover, there’s one group of early adopters that no one likes to talk about — darknet market vendors.
https://news.bitcoin.com/some-of-bitcoins-earliest-adopters-find-it-difficult-to-cash-out/