Speaking at the Nordic Business Forum in Sweden, Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak admitted he has sold off almost all of his Bitcoin holdings — keeping some to “experiment” with. Despite this, he’s still a keen supporter, maintaining the that the cryptocurrency is superior to gold and fiat currencies.Wozniak became interested in Bitcoin when it was priced at $70, but was originally put off by what he saw as a cumbersome process for getting and storing cryptocurrencies. Eventually, he bought into the coin when one was going for $700. Considering current price levels, it’s likely he made a nice profit on the sale. Though it’s impossible to assess exactly how much money he made on the investment because he has not disclosed how much of the cryptocurrency he acquired.“When it shot up high, I said, ‘I don’t want to become one of those people that watch it, watches it, and cares about the number,’” Wozniak said. “I don’t want that kind of care in my life. Part of my happiness is not to have worries, so I sold it all — just got rid of it — except just enough to still experiment with.”
Despite this choice to part with Bitcoin, Wozniak has been — and still is — a vocal supporter of cryptocurrencies and blockchain-based technologies. At the Money 20/20 last year, Wozniak said he thought Bitcoin was better than gold and fiat currencies like the U.S. dollar because it had a finite supply. According to him, gold’s finite supply could be increased if alternate methods of mining could be developed. Similarly, a government body could influence the flow of U.S. dollars.“Gold gets mined and mined and mined,” he said. “Maybe there’s a finite amount of gold in the world, but Bitcoin is even more mathematical and regulated and nobody can change mathematics.” The coin’s supply is mathematically constrained to 21 million total, with about 80% of those currently in circulation.Wozniak also assessed Bitcoin as a store of value, comparing it to owning a house. “Your house has value. And it is a house today, 40 years from now, it still is a house in value,” he said. As for the future, Wozniak expects Bitcoin to develop and become a more effective medium of transaction for day-to-day use: “It’s not that easy to do yet, but it’s getting there.”