In brief:
- The critically acclaimed author of the Harry Potter series, J.K Rowling, tweeted that she would like to understand Bitcoin (BTC).
- Crypto twitter responded with numerous explanations.
- A fake twitter account mimicking the author claimed to have purchased BTC.
- In the end, J.K Rowling still did not understand Bitcoin.
What started off as an honest question by J.K Rowling about Bitcoin, has provided on of the best insight into the many hurdles of crypto and Bitcoin adoption. In a simple tweet, the critically acclaimed author of the globally known Harry Potter series requested an explanation of Bitcoin (BTC).
I don’t understand bitcoin. Please explain it to me.
— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) May 15, 2020
Prominent Crypto Personalities Respond and Attempt to Explain Bitcoin
Several prominent crypto personalities responded to her call and attempted to explain the digital asset to Ms. Rowling. Some of the explanations and corresponding authors of them can be found below.
It’s a digital currency. There’s ~18m units of it. It’s not backed by anything, it’s just valuable because it is, like collectibles. There’s a network of computers (which anyone can join) that maintains a decentralized global excel spreadsheet of how many coins each person has. – Vitalik Buterin
Contrary to popular belief #bitcoin is not “magic” money. We know that it can be hard to understand, so here’s a 5-minute explanation on what bitcoin really is and how it works! We hope this helps – theteam at Gemini Exchange
Bitcoin is not magic, funny money. That’s the U.S. dollar and the Fed – Tyler Winklevoss
It’s like real estate. Supply is limited and everyone wants more of it. Also it’s digital. – Udi Wertheimer
I can send you 1 #Bitcoin. Seeing is believing. – Justin Sun
It’s all ‘Blah Blah Blah’
The tweet by Ms. Rowling has since had thousands of replies and retweets. In one of her responses to the numerous offers to explain Bitcoin, she admitted that it all sounded like ‘blah blah blah’.
People are now explaining Bitcoin to me, and honestly, it’s blah blah blah collectibles (My Little Pony?) blah blah blah computers (got one of those) blah blah blah crypto (sounds creepy) blah blah blah understand the risk (I don’t, though.)
Pretty much, although massive currency issuance by govt central banks is making Bitcoin Internet 👻 money look solid by comparison
— Elon Musk, the 2nd (@elonmusk) May 15, 2020
Fake Account of Ms. Rowlings Claims to Buy Bitcoin
J.K Rowling Admits She Still Does Not Understand Bitcoin
Less than a day after Ms. Rowling requested an explanation on Bitcoin, she tweeted what seems to be a conclusion that she is yet to understand the digital asset.
This started as a joke, but now I’m afraid I’ll never be able to log in to Twitter again without someone getting angry I don’t own Bitcoin. One day you’ll see a wizened old woman in the street, trying to trade a Harry Potter book for a potato. Be kind. She did try to understand.
(Feature image courtesy of Unplash.com)