Would you believe this? Steve Wozniak's bitcoins actually got stolen

Apple Inc co-founder Steve Wozniak on his experience with cryptocurrency.
Steve Wozniak has an inventive mind, so it comes as no surprise that he’s a fan of Bitcoin. The Apple cofounder spoke at the ET GBS about what made him a fan of the cryptocurrency. “Bitcoins to me was a currency that was not manipulated by the governments. It is mathematical, it is pure, it can’t be altered,” he said.

Unfortunately, all of this doesn’t safeguard Bitcoin from fraud. The American inventor and philanthropist told a full house at the summit how his own Bitcoins got stolen. “The blockchain identifies who has bitcoins… that doesn’t mean there can’t be fraud though. I had seven bitcoins stolen from me through fraud. Somebody bought them from me online through a credit card and they cancelled the credit card payment. It was that easy! And it was from a stolen credit card number so you can never get it back,” said Wozniak.

Asked about his experience of investing in Bitcoin when they were going at $700 a piece and then selling them for a fortune when the price shot up, Wozniak said that he “did not invest in bitcoins”, but bought them as an experiment. “I had them so that I could someday travel and not use credit cards, wallets or cash. I could do it all on Bitcoin. I studied which hotels and facilities accepted Bitcoin... it’s still very difficult to do so. I also tried to buy things online and trade Bitcoin online.”

So, why did he sell them? “Because I didn’t want to watch the price everyday… I sold all except one. It was enough to experiment,” added Wozniak.