Then, I described buying Bitcoin as an asymmetric bet, by which I mean the potential reward was many, many times the risk.
Admittedly, I don't know if Bitcoin and the other crypto currencies will soar in value, do nothing or end up worthless, but the very concept of what it represents to a new generation had me wanting to learn more.
I figured the best way to learn is by actually doing and so I have taken a punt and actually bought some crypto.
The process was remarkably easy but it did take some time in understanding the terms and technology before I was willing to pull the purchase trigger.
The first step was to find someone to buy it from.
I had several criteria here and the first was that I wanted the business I was buying through ( or crypto exchange as they are known) to be Australian based. That narrowed the field considerably.
Secondly, I wanted the process to be as simple as possible so that even I could understand and do it. Sometimes that means you pay a bit more but if the price of crypto is going to the stratosphere, then I reasoned that the price paid today really won't matter that much.
The third criteria was that I didn't want any money surprises.
Nothing irks me more than when you think you have agreed a price and then some previously hidden extra charges come to the fore. In terms of crypto these are mining fees, transfer fees, exchange fees and so forth.
To be honest, I didn't even know what a lot of them were in the first place and certainly wasn't experienced enough to know if I was getting a good deal or not.
For me it was more important to know the exact amount it was going to cost before committing to the transaction because that was the exact amount I was prepared to lose and not a cent more.
Fortunately I found an Aussie (and New Zealand) based business that fulfilled those criteria. The people behind it were super helpful and have made the process so easy that even I could do it!
It's called Easy Crypto if you want to check them out.
The team were very helpful with my initial inquiries and offered some really interesting insights into where the world of crypto currency is going. One thing they shared in an email was their own test to see if it was possible to live 100% using only Cryptocurrency as money in Australia.
The three people behind Easy Crypto set themselves a goal to survive for six months using crypto as a store of value to spend. They did it using 'crypto cards' which work like a usual debit card except it takes from your crypto currency stack.
Payments are made to merchants in Aussie dollars and the conversion is handled automatically by the bots behind the scenes.
Their successful experiment indicated to me just how far advanced the crypto as money concept has progressed.
Now I am not ready to make that big a leap outside of the current system but putting a few dollars into Cryptocurrency and storing it away for a few years might be a worthwhile endeavour - or it might prove to be a complete waste of money.
As I said right from the start, I haven't got a clue how this little experiment is going to end but my reassessment of Bitcoin made me want to have a small piece of it.
If you'd like more information about crypto currency you could do a lot worse than contacting the crew at Easy Crypto. They were a pleasure to deal with.
In the interests of transparency, I actually bought small amounts of several different crypto currencies because I thought that would spread the risk. Please don't take anything written here as investment advice. It is just an account of my experience in an area where I have no expertise but want to learn more.
Also, the links contained in the post above above are trackable as part of the Easy Crypto referral program. If you'd rather that information not be recorded you can use this link instead
Cory Bernardi is the author of seven books and has been a member of the Australian rowing team, a publican, an investment portfolio manager and spent nearly 14 years as an Australian Senator.
