Bitcoin adoption has taken place and can take place in many different settings — a son convincing his father to purchase cryptocurrency over dinner, a Venezuelan finding their local currency deflating away, a Hong Kong citizen realizing that they can’t get their money out of banks, and so on and so forth.
One quite interesting setting is purportedly joining the mix: the business class of a flight from Los Angeles to Shanghai. Why? Well, Bobby Lee, a long-time cryptocurrency entrepreneur, has recently claimed to have shilled Bitcoin to Bruce Willis in that very setting.
Entrepreneur Drops Bitcoin Knowledge on Bruce Willis
In a recent tweet, Bobby Lee, a board member of the BTC Foundation and the brother of Litecoin’s Charlie Lee, claimed to have met Bruce Willis — a prominent actor featured in movies like “Die Hard,” “Unbreakable,” and “Looper” — on his flight from Los Angeles to Shanghai. Indeed, the slightly burry image below shows a man that looks much like Willis climbing on board a plane.
While this isn’t exactly notable per se — celebrities fly on planes all the time — what purportedly came next was notable. Lee remarked in his tweet that he began to talk Bitcoin with Willis.
“What do I do? Let’s talk Bitcoin! He didn’t know much, so I introduced him to BTC, and showed him our BalletCrypto physical wallets.”
On my flight from #LA to #Shanghai, I was surprised to see #BruceWillis come onboard, sitting next to me, traveling w/ his family to China. ????
What do I do? Let’s talk #Bitcoin! He didn’t know much, so I introduced him to $BTC, and showed him our @BalletCrypto physical wallets. pic.twitter.com/fektI7miCb
— Bobby Lee – Ballet: World's EASIEST wallet! (@bobbyclee) November 2, 2019
The conversation purportedly ended in Lee, who did not say whether Willis was engrossed in the conversation or not, gifting two of his hardware wallets with 0.01 BTC to Willis as early Christmas presents.
Celebrities Continue Crypto Campaigns
While Willis isn’t preaching the benefits of Bitcoin — not yet, anyway — there are some celebrities that are actively shilling the benefits of cryptocurrency.
Tony Hawk — yes, the skateboarding legend Tony Hawk — was just revealed to be a guest speaker on the lineup of Bitcoin2020, a Bitcoin-centric industry event set to be held in San Francisco at the end of March. It wasn’t made clear what Hawk, billed as a “skateboarding legend, entrepreneur, and philanthropist,” will talk about it, but he has shown he is a fan of the leading cryptocurrency.
Responding to a chart that accentuated the parabolic nature of Bitcoin’s chart, which then resembled a skate ramp, Hawk quipped that he’s been “riding” BTC for “six years”, adding that he has yet to sell his coins.
Hawk isn’t the only celebrity thrusting Bitcoin back into the mainstream. Michelle Phan, a new-age celebrity with a following of millions online, told The Cut that she is extremely excited about the promise of Bitcoin, more excited than she was when she first found Youtube.
She added that Bitcoin is “probably the most important investment you can make in your life.” On the matter of why, she looked to decentralization, arguing that BTC is the first technology that allows one to become their own bank, “as there is no higher authority” or power controlling permissions and the flow of money.
Hawk and Phan are just the tips of the iceberg though. If you browse the web, you’re likely to find stories of rappers like Eminem, Soulja Boy, and Akon mentioning the cryptocurrency, or actors like Johnny Depp getting involved in the industry; crypto’s influence in Hollywood spreads much further than some may initially thnk.
While Bitcoin can succeed without the help of celebrities, it sure can’t hurt for those with hundreds of millions of dollars and millions of fans to be shilling Bitcoin to the world, especially when that shill has substance like in the case of Phan.