An American non-fiction author and financial journalist has said that while he owns some bitcoin he ‘doesn’t completely get it.’
The author in question is Michael Lewis, author of best-selling books behind hit movies such as , , and . How much bitcoin does he own? A mere $378 worth. Not exactly a huge sum by any means, but it’s a lot more than what he originally started with.
A few years ago, Lewis was gifted $5 worth of bitcoin. At the time he was considering writing about the currency and wanted to learn more about it. By doing so he ended up spending half a day with bitcoin enthusiasts in Silicon Valley, writes Yahoo! Finance.
His main concern, though, was whether or not he would be able to spend the currency. The people he was with told he could and helped set him up with a digital wallet. They then proceeded to take him out and attempted to buy a cup of coffee with the digital currency in Palo Alto.
Lewis said:
It was a disaster. Of course it didn’t work. I said, ‘Why don’t you call me when I can buy something with bitcoin,’ and I kept the $5 on my phone.
Since then bitcoin’s value has experienced a surge in value. At the beginning of the year the cryptocurrency was worth $1,000. Now, 11 months later, it’s trading just under $7,200, according to CoinMarketCap. At its highest, the digital currency reached $7,800 yesterday after the news that the controversial SegWit2x protocol upgrade had been suspended.
However, the coins that Lewis owns remain in the same digital wallet that was set up for him, at a rate of $378.
He adds:
The bitcoin is now more valuable than my phone.
In an interview with TheStreet, he also expressed the view that while he gets the concept of the blockchain, he ‘doesn’t completely get bitcoin.’
Nowadays, though, with the coin’s value increasing more people are finding ways as to how they can spend the currency for day-to-day purchases. Japan is one example, which has embraced the market and is accepting the cryptocurrency for purchase payments. Elsewhere, homeowners selling their homes are now accepting cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin as payment options in Miami and London.
It may not have been easy to use bitcoin to pay for things a few years ago, but that’s certainly changing as its value continues to rise.