Bitcoin should be single global currency, says Apple founder Steve Wozniak
'I want it to be that way, that is so pure thinking'
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak has given a glowing endorsement of bitcoin, saying that he hopes the cryptocurrency will one day serve as a global single currency.
Mr Wozniak was responding to comments made by Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey earlier this year, who claimed that bitcoin would become the world's single currency within 10 years.
"I buy into what Jack Dorsey says, not that I necessarily believe it's going to happen, but because I want it to be that way, that is so pure thinking," Mr Wozniak told CNBC.
"Bitcoin is mathematically defined, there is a certain quantity of bitcoin, there's a way it's distributed... and it's pure and there's no human running, there's no company running and it's just... growing and growing."
The decentralized nature of bitcoin meant that it is "natural," Mr Wozniak added, saying: "Nature is more important than all our human conventions."
It is not the first time that Mr Wozniak has spoken publicly about the merits of bitcoin, having previously heralded the cryptocurrency and its underlying blockchain technology as better than gold and the US dollar.
Mr Wozniak first became interested in bitcoin a few years ago and bought some when they were worth around 10 per cent of what they are today. He has since sold all but one of the bitcoins, saying that he did not want to become: "One of those people that watches it, watches it and cares about the number."
At a conference in Las Vegas last October, Mr Wozniak said that traditional currencies were "kind of phoney," due to the fact measures like quantitative easing could artificially inflate the money supply. The major drawback of gold, he said, was that there was no fixed supply.
"There is a certain amount of bitcoin that can ever exist," Mr Wozniak said at the Money 20/20 event. "Gold gets mined and mined and mined. Maybe there's a finite amount of gold in the world, but cryptocurrency is even more mathematical and regulated and nobody can change mathematics."
His comments come in contrast to other influential figures, such as Warren Buffett, who claims that bitcoin represented a gamble, not an investment.
The so-called 'Oracle of Omaha' said in May that bitcoin was "probably rat poison squared."
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments