- A 2013 purchase of basketball tickets using bitcoin meant Alex Taub lost out on almost $30,000.
- At the time, he felt like he was getting into Madison Square Garden for free, essentially.
- When asked if he’ll ever pay with crypto again, he told CNBC it’s “not happening.”
- See more stories on Insider’s business page.
In 2013, Alex Taub agreed to buy a pair of Christmas day tickets to a New York Knicks game from a friend. At the time, the tickets sold for $550 for third-row seats — a bargain.
But the purchase was no ordinary one. Taub chose to pay in bitcoin, as reported by CNBC.
When Taub bought his tickets eight years ago with 0.7688 bitcoin, one token was valued at about $730. But at the time of writing, one bitcoin is worth $33,730, making the value of those tickets fall within the $30,000 range.
Taub, CEO of professional networking startup, Upstream, told CNBC that at the time, buying the prized Christmas Day tickets without spending any cash gave him the feeling that he was getting into Madison Square Garden for free.
Years later, he was struck with the realization of the deal he made with his friend. In 2017, Taub tweeted that the tickets were “looking like they could become the most overpriced tix of all time” when he noticed they worth $5,000.
Time continues to make the transaction increasingly unbalanced. When bitcoin soared at an all-time high price of $64,829 earlier this year, the bitcoin Taub traded for seats was valued at $49,840, CNBC reported.
—Alexander Taub (@ajt) November 1, 2017
“In hindsight, clearly it would be nice to have the money,” he told the outlet. “But at the same time, if you start to harp on this stuff you’re going to be immobilized, you’re going to be frozen and not be able to function.”
When asked if he’ll ever pay with crypto again, he said it’s “not happening.”
“I will not be using speculative currency to buy Knicks tickets again,” he added.
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