Brazilian Man Sells Cans to Buy Bitcoin — How Long Would It Take in The US?
Key Takeaways
- Bruno Oliveira from Brazil has spent over two years collecting and selling aluminum cans to buy Bitcoin.
- Despite viral reports, Oliveria claims he is not close to acquiring a full Bitcoin and is instead pushing for 10%.
- CCN explores how long it would take to buy a full BTC in the U.S. or U.K. through cans alone.
A Brazilian man who has spent two years collecting and selling aluminum cans to buy Bitcoin is on a mission to accumulate 10% of one BTC, despite reports that he is closing in on 1 BTC.
As his achievement continues to go viral, CCN has decided to explore how long it would take a dedicated Bitcoin pursuer to do the same in the U.S.
Could you “can your way” to a full Bitcoin through nothing but sheer determination and a lot of profitable recycling?
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Cans for Bitcoin
Bruno Oliveira, from the city of Limeira in São Paulo state, began selling discarded cans in 2022 with one goal — to acquire Bitcoin.
His progress, highlighted across social media, has made him a symbol of perseverance in Brazil’s fragile economy.
Despite viral reports claiming he’s closing in on a full bitcoin, Bruno has been hammering home just how hard his mission truly is.
On Sunday, Nov. 9, Oliveria responded to a post claiming that: “1 bitcoin is impossible; the goal is to reach 0.1.”
“I’m the scrap dealer in this article, and I’d need a lot of cans for 1 Bitcoin,” he wrote in a separate post.
Oliveira’s project has drawn attention from a variety of crypto commentators, including Bitcoin Magazine editor Pete Rizzo.
Social media users have been praising Oliveira’s persistence, with one post hailing the mission as an embodiment of Bitcoin’s “proof of work” system.
“Here the Proof of Work is sweated can by can, satoshi by satoshi, 1 BTC is very far away, the goal is to reach at least 10%,” he wrote on X.
How Many Cans For 1 BTC in the U.S. And U.K.?
In the U.S., replicating Oliveira’s strategy would be an immense task.
According to industry trackers , scrap yards currently pay about $0.50 per pound for clean aluminum beverage cans.
At that rate, earning enough for one Bitcoin at its current trading price of $106,000 would require roughly 210,000 pounds of cans, equal to about 6.3 million individual cans.
Lower local prices in some scrap yards could push the total above 10 million cans, depending on region and quality.
Even at the higher end of market prices, around $0.60 per pound, an individual would still need to collect close to 5 million cans.
Replicating Oliveira’s feat in Britain would be even harder.
At current market rates, the scrap value of aluminum cans in the U.K. averages about £0.20 per kilogram, according to scrap price aggregator ScrapFinder.uk.
With Bitcoin trading near £82,000, a collector would need to sell roughly 410 tonnes of aluminum cans at the lower end of that price range, the equivalent of about 27 million individual cans.
Even at the higher scrap price, the total would still exceed 16 million cans.
While Britain’s aluminum recycling rate stands at more than 80%, according to government data, individuals rarely see significant returns from small-scale collection.
Unconventional Bitcoin Earners
Oliveira’s effort is the latest in a string of unconventional routes to Bitcoin ownership that have become part of crypto folklore.
Rapper 50 Cent made headlines in 2014 after accepting Bitcoin as payment for his album Animal Ambition, reportedly taking in around 700 BTC.
The coins were…
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