Professional skateboarder Tony Hawk announced that he had first purchased Bitcoin in 2012 after discovering how it worked on Silk Road

The skateboarding legend was speaking at the Bitcoin 2021 conference in Miami this weekend. Hawk spoke about his personal experience with digital currencies in a fireside chat titled “Countercultures Go Mainstream.”

The conversation was related to skateboarding and how cryptocurrencies are similar in terms of cultural adoption.

Hawk commented on the topic, saying “If you’re doing something you truly love, you’re not truly working.” He related this comment to crypto, “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.

Hawk’s first BTC purchase

Hawk also admitted that he had first purchased bitcoin in 2012 when seeing how efficient the crypto was as a payment option on the now defunct Silk Road. 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 skateboarder spoke about how bitcoin grabbed his attention as a means of exchange, saying “it was very fast and international. For me, it was the future of finance.” Hawk then “immediately searched: How can I buy Bitcoin.”

The skateboarding legend did admit that he had not sold any bitcoin as of yet, but had in fact donated up to four bitcoin to a charity organization in 2012. “I wish I held to that, though” he commented.

Tony Hawk NFTs

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.