50 Cent is reportedly sitting on a Bitcoin fortune worth more than $7 million after accepting payments for his last album in the cryptocurrency.
When the In Da Club rapper released his 2014 record Animal Ambition he allowed fans to pay in Bitcoin.
Sources tell TMZ.com that 50, real name Curtis James Jackson III, raked in around 700 Bitcoin with the release, which at the time was worth around $ 400,000. However, due to fluctuations in the cryptocurrency’s value, his holdings would now be worth between $7 million and $8.5 million.
However, his fortune may not last, as Bitcoin prices have tumbled by 25 percent, with the value of one Bitcoin falling from around $16,000 in the first week of January to around $10,000 on Wednesday.
The 42-year-old rapper’s apparent Bitcoin wealth represents a turnaround in his fortunes from 2015, when he filed for bankruptcy, listing his debts as $36 million against assets worth less than $20 million.
His filing came after a jury ruled he had to pay $5 million to a woman who sued him over a sex tape released without her permission.
Earlier this year, Jackson reached an agreement to pay back $23.4 million of his debts from future earnings over five years.
He is also suing his former business managers for allegedly mishandling his bankruptcy proceedings, claiming they “disregarded the procedures of the bankruptcy court, and improperly helped themselves” to his money.
The musician is also suing the law firm who represented him in the original sex tape case and is seeking $7 million in actual damages and $25 million in punitive damages for alleged malpractice.
