Skateboard legend Tony Hawk admits to buying Bitcoin in 2012, said that BTC is the future of finance
At the Bitcoin 2021 conference in Miami this weekend, Tony Hawk, the American professional skateboarder often referred to as “Birdman”, announced that he had first purchased Bitcoin in 2012 after discovering how it worked on Silk Road.
Tony Hawk, the American professional skateboarder often referred to as “Birdman”
Professional skateboarder Tony Hawk admits to buying Bitcoin in 2012
Hawk spoke about his personal experience with digital currencies in a fireside chat titled “Countercultures Go Mainstream”. He said he heard about the cryptocurrency after reading about the Silk Road marketplace and at the time, he said to himself Bitcoin is the future of finance.
He said:
“I was reading about the chaos of the Silk Road when that was all happening and I was fascinated with the payment component they had and it was obviously Bitcoin. There was an anonymous side to it but it was also just the idea that it was very fast and international and to me, it was the future of finances so I immediately researched how to buy Bitcoin. I wasn’t on the Silk Road. But I did buy Bitcoin in 2012.”
Silk Road was the primary website used for predominantly illicit transactions using bitcoin. The website processed over $200 million worth of transactions between over 115,000 buyers before the website was shut down.
The skateboarding legend did admit that he had not sold any BTC as of yet, but had in fact donated up to four bitcoin to a charity organization in 2012:
“I held, pretty much. I didn’t do much with it. I was watching it obviously. I was holding on to my Bitcoin and charity water was the first charity that I knew of that accepted BTC as a donation so in my infinite wisdom I gave him four back in 2012.”
During Hawk’s speech at the event, he explained how he was living the dream when he was skating for a living.
He compared this passion to people involved with bitcoin and said:
“I embraced the idea that skateboarding was for misfits. I felt like a misfit as a kid. I felt like I found my community, my tribe.”
Hawk commented on the topic, saying:
“If you’re doing something you truly love, you’re not truly working. If you’re working in some sort of Bitcoin facet or world, and you’re enjoying what you’re doing, I think you should stick with it.”
Hawk compared the slow rise in skateboarding popularity to that of the crypto market, saying that Bitcoin had risen in popularity much faster than skateboarding had.
The famous skateboarder has also dabbled in the non-fungible token (NFT) space. Hawk had previously announced that he would be selling his ollie 540 trick video as an NFT on the Ethernity Chain platform.
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