Rapper 50 Cent, AKA Curtis Jackson, has denied he is a bitcoin millionaire, after earlier reports stated he had around $8m in bitcoin earnings he had forgotten about.
In 2014, he allowed fans to purchase his album Animal Ambition using the cryptocurrency. Earlier this year, the website TMZ reported that Jackson had earned around $400,000 of bitcoin from the transactions, but had forgotten about them, and his account was dormant. TMZ suggested that, with the recent spike in the value of bitcoin, Jackson had multiplied his initial stake many times over.
In January, the rapper quoted the report on Instagram and wrote: “Not bad for a kid from south side, I’m so proud of me.” He added: “I’m a keep it real I forgot I did that shit.”
In new court documents amid Jackson’s lengthy bankruptcy case, he has denied the reports. “The limited bitcoin transactions that occurred online were processed and converted to US dollars contemporaneously,” the documents state, suggesting that just a few thousand dollars were earned via the bitcoin transactions.
Jackson has said that stories about his apparent bitcoin windfall were false. He reasoned, however, that: “So long as a press story is not irreparably damaging to my image or brand I usually do not feel the need to publicly deny the reporting. This is particularly true when I feel the press report in question is favourable to my image or brand, even if the report is based on a misunderstanding of the facts or contains outright falsehoods.”
Jackson emerged from bankruptcy in February 2017, but certain details of his case continue to be ironed out, including ongoing disputes with Dorothy DeJesus and Candace Scott, who were injured after Jackson was involved in a brawl with audience members at a 2004 concert.
