Staggering amount student who bought $27 Bitcoin in 2009 would have today if he hadn't sold any

In 2009, a student curious about an unusual new tech idea spent around $27 on Bitcoin for a project, which would be worth a huge sum today.

Kristoffer Koch was 25 when he bought 5,000 Bitcoin back in the cryptocurrency's very early days, when it was still a weird technology project, before setting the digital wallet where they were kept aside and forgetting about it.

He explained that at the time there hadn't been anything you could buy with Bitcoin, except alpaca socks, saying: “The sole purchasable items in those days were alpaca socks, thus I proceeded with my life and relinquished thoughts of this venture to instead concentrate on securing gainful employment.”

But in what he described as being like a 'dream' Koch noticed several years later that Bitcoin, now one of the largest cryptocurrencies, had skyrocketed in value in the four years since he made the purchase, almost on a whim.

His curiosity, and excitement, piqued he decided to log in to see if his throwaway purchase had accumulated any value in the intervening years.

Koch admitted that there was even a rather tense moment where he struggled to remember the password to his encrypted safe, as it had been so long since he'd used it.

Kristoffer was 25 when he made the purchase (KristofferKoch/Chesnot)

Eventually, and very fortunately for Koch, he was able to remember the password and access the encrypted wallet where the investment was being held.

When he looked at his investment, he found that his off-the-cuff $27 was now worth around $850,000.

Speaking to local media at the time, he said: "Not in my wildest dreams could I have imagined that they would have soared like this.

"It's bizarre, these psychological reflexes that make us attach a value to something that doesn't have any in itself."

The BBC reported that Koch sold around a fifth of his stock and after taxes used the money to buy a flat in Oslo's fashionable Toyen district.

Despite some dips over the years, Bitcoin has generally continued to rise in value, meaning that an investment of 5,000 bitcoin would now be worth a good deal more than it was in 2013.

But just how much would 5,000 Bitcoin be worth now?

At the time of writing one Bitcoin is worth $66,470.52, though the precise figure is volatile.

His initial investment would be worth more than $500 million (Getty stock)

That means that 5,000 Bitcoin would at the time of writing be worth around $332,352,600 - enough to place their owner among some of the richest people in the world.

If we want an idea of the return on Koch's investment of $27, his initial investment would now be worth around 12.3 million times its original value.

But what about taking account of him selling a fifth of his Bitcoin to buy a flat?

Well, 4,000 Bitcoin would be worth just under $266 million, so still not too shabby for a $27 investment.

Of course Bitcoin can go down as well as up in value, making it a riskier investment for people who came to it at a later point.

But it would take a pretty monumental crash for Koch to end up with less than he started with.