FYI.

This story is over 5 years old.

News

What it's like to be absolutely obsessed with bitcoin

Over the past year, the price of a Bitcoin has skyrocketed from less than $800 to nearly $20,000 — a meteoric rise that financial insiders say is no different than the escalating cost of a tulip in seventeenth-century Amsterdam.

Kang first got the Bitcoin bug in July, initially investing $4000, upping it to $9000, then fearing a crash, betting his entire crypto-cache on a random soccer game (which he lost). A former aspiring professional poker player, Kang bounced back undeterred, and with the surging price of the currency, Bitcoin mania has taken over his life.

This segment originally aired December 11, 2017, on VICE News Tonight on HBO.