Bitcoin has been around for a few years now, enough time for the cryptocurrency to give us a few unforgettable stories. These are indeed shocking, as some of those involved in these eventsfound themselves in a financial roller coasterthey never thought they would be in. Here are some of the most amazing bitcoin stories.

A 28-year-old Brooklyn man used Craigslist to sell bitcoins to someone near him. He used the website to avoid the hassles of online bitcoin exchanges but things didnt go as planned. The stranger he was selling bitcoin to led him to a Honda in which they were supposed to finalize the deal. Inside the car, aman hiding in the backseat pulled a gun on him, and forced the 28-year-old to transfer the bitcoins, at the time worth $1,100, to the robbers. Then, the thieves grabbed the mans cell phone and fled.

Mt. Gox was the worlds largest bitcoin exchange when the biggest bitcoin heistin history took place. Allegedly, a hacker stole roughly 800,000 bitcoins from the exchange, the equivalent of $400,000 at the time, enough to bring the exchange to its knees, forcing it to declare bankruptcy. Today, the same 800,000 bitcoins would be worth over $880 million.

Mt. Goxs CEO, Mark Karpeles, had a reaction to the high-profile heist that seemed, to some, incredibly calm and vague:

We had weaknesses in our system, and our bitcoins vanished. Weve caused trouble and inconvenience to many people, and I feel deeply sorry for what has happened.

The investigation led by law enforcement panned out due to the lack of evidence, but Mark Karpeles, was charged with embezzlement.

According to what Bitpay CCO Sonny Singhtold Bloomberg Markets, bitcoins volatility once helped a man make $1.3 million as he was merely attempting to buy a house. The man was to pay $4 million for the estate and expressed interest in paying with bitcoin. Once the transaction started, one bitcoin was worth $750, but thanks to the cryptocurrencys volatility, it was worth over $1,000 by the end of the transaction. That essentially meant the buyer got a little gift, simply because he decided to pay with bitcoin.

Back when bitcoins were easier mine, a man named James Howells mined 7,500 bitcoins and then stored them in a hard drive. In 2009, when he mined them, they werent worth a lot, so James didnt use them. A few years later, while cleaning up his desk, he came across the hard drive and, without remembering the bitcoins in them, he threw it away , sending it to a landfill. Later on he attempted to retrieve it, but was unable to.

When thrown out, the bitcoins contained in the hard drive were worth over $600,000. Nowadays, James bitcoins would be worth over $8 million.

Erik Finman was introduced to bitcoin in 2012 by his older brother, who sent him 0.2 bitcoins just for him to get a feel of the cryptocurrency. Later on, his grandmother gave him a $1,000 gift for Easter. Then 15-year-old Erik decided to buy bitcoins with the money and, a year and a half later, hesold those bitcoins for $100,000 an incredible return on investment (ROI). The young entrepreneur decided to use his money to launch Botangle.com, an online tutoring service.

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Top 5 Shocking Bitcoin Stories - The Merkle