How Apple’s Wozniak Fell in Love With the Math Behind Bitcoin
When Steve Wozniak speaks, the world listens. Years after he helped transform technology alongside Steve Jobs at Apple, another revolution captured his imagination—Bitcoin.
On this page
- Falling in Love with the Math Behind Bitcoin
- Efforce: Blockchain for a Sustainable Future
- A Quiet Start with Bold Ideas
- A Partnership Built on Purpose, Not Profit
- A Record-Breaking Launch
- Why Malta?
- A Revolutionary Concept: Energy Credits on the Blockchain
- Unicoin and the Unicorn Hunters Show
- A Collision with Crypto’s Dark Side
- The Scam That Shook Steve Wozniak
- Legal Battle Against YouTube
- Persistence That Paid Off
- A Warning to the Tech Industry
- Steve Wozniak and Bitcoin: Reflections on a Complicated Love
- Why the Crypto Industry Needs More Voices Like Steve Wozniak
However, his path into the crypto world didn’t follow the typical Silicon Valley narrative. Steve Wozniak wasn’t drawn in by hype or the promise of massive profits. Instead, what captivated him was the mathematics behind Bitcoin—pure, elegant, and brilliantly designed.
Bitcoin is the only cryptocurrency that’s pure-gold mathematics,
Wozniak declared in a March 2022 interview.
For Steve Wozniak, Bitcoin represented something pure, untouched by human flaws.
It isn’t run by some company. It’s just mathematically pure. And I believe nature over humans always,
he explained.
Yet, this love story soon became more complicated. It didn’t just lead Wozniak into the world of crypto innovation, it also dragged him into a fierce legal battle against those who exploited his name.
Falling in Love with the Math Behind Bitcoin
Steve Wozniak discovered Bitcoin well before it hit the mainstream. What struck him immediately was the brilliance of its structure. Bitcoin wasn’t just a currency, it was an elegantly engineered mathematical system.
To Steve Wozniak, Bitcoin represented a decentralized alternative, free from the control of governments, banks, or corporations.
Bitcoin is the most amazing mathematical miracle,
he said at a tech conference in the summer of 2021.
He was fascinated by Bitcoin’s logical beauty. In it, Wozniak saw echoes of the personal computing revolution he helped ignite.
However, Wozniak’s fascination was very different from that of other celebrities promoting crypto projects. He openly warned against scams and hype-driven tokens, expressing skepticism about NFTs and the flood of new cryptocurrencies.
There’s so many cryptocurrencies that come out now; everybody has a way to create a new one, and you have a celebrity star with it. It seems like they’re just collecting a bunch of money from people who want to invest at the very earliest stage, when it’s worth pennies,
he warned.
Nevertheless, despite his caution, Wozniak continued to believe in crypto as a tool for meaningful change. To him, blockchain carried enormous potential as long as it was used ethically.
Efforce: Blockchain for a Sustainable Future
A Quiet Start with Bold Ideas
In 2018, Steve Wozniak quietly stepped into the blockchain space by co-founding a startup called Efforce.
Unlike typical crypto projects that promise quick returns, Efforce set out with a different mission: to fund initiatives that combat climate change and promote energy efficiency.
A Partnership Built on Purpose, Not Profit
To turn the concept into reality, Wozniak teamed up with two Italian entrepreneurs, Jacopo Visetti and Jacopo Vanetti. Efforce was their vision: a blockchain platform, enabling global investors to fund energy-efficient projects.
The idea struck a chord with Steve. He saw it not as a tool for personal gain, but as a way to use blockchain technology to address humanity’s most pressing global challenges.
A Record-Breaking Launch
Efforce officially debuted in December 2020 and sparked strong investor interest from day one. Its native token, WOZX, immediately skyrocketed, reaching a market cap of $950 million just 13 minutes after launch.
The project quickly grabbed global headlines, not only for its rapid success but also for its strategic choice to register in Malta, a country known for its supportive crypto regulations.
Why Malta?
Wozniak offered a simple explanation.
Malta has been on my mind for decades,
he said.
The island’s pro-innovation stance allowed Efforce to avoid the heavy regulatory constraints of the U.S. while preserving transparency and integrity.
A Revolutionary Concept: Energy Credits on the Blockchain
Efforce introduced a groundbreaking idea, turning saved megawatts of energy into tradeable assets, much like carbon credits.
Steve Wozniak imagined a future where individuals could collectively invest in energy efficiency and directly share in the benefits of the savings achieved.
With Efforce, blockchain was no longer just an abstract technology. It became a practical, ethical, and deeply human tool.
Unicoin and the Unicorn Hunters Show
However, Steve Wozniak didn’t stop with Efforce.
In February 2022, he returned to the spotlight—this time as a judge on Unicorn Hunters, a reality show where entrepreneurs pitched their startups and viewers could invest in them directly.
The show introduced the world to a new cryptocurrency, Unicoin, designed to reduce volatility by backing its value with equity in successful startups featured on the program.
Unlike many typical cryptocurrencies, Wozniak saw Unicoin as grounded in something real.
It’s really opening up startup investment to the masses. It isn’t just words – it’s based on real outcomes,
he explained.
Still, Wozniak approached even Unicoin with measured caution. He acknowledged its asset backing as a strength, but he didn’t express the same enthusiasm for its technology or mathematical foundation.
His genuine passion remained reserved for the mathematical elegance of Bitcoin.
A Collision with Crypto’s Dark Side
The Scam That Shook Steve Wozniak
Despite his optimism about blockchain’s potential for good, Steve Wozniak soon faced the harsh reality of the industry’s darker side.
In 2020, scammers on YouTube exploited his name and reputation to run fake Bitcoin “giveaways”. In the videos, Wozniak promised that anyone who sent Bitcoin to a listed address would receive double the amount in return.
Victims lost millions of dollars. As a result, Wozniak’s reputation suffered in the process.
Legal Battle Against YouTube
Frustrated and outraged, Steve Wozniak teamed up with 17 other victims to sue YouTube and its parent company, Google, aiming to hold the platform accountable.
But the outcome was disappointing. In 2022, the court dismissed the case, citing Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act.
This controversial law protects online platforms from legal liability for content posted by users.
Persistence That Paid Off
But Wozniak didn’t back down. Instead, he continued the legal fight, arguing that YouTube had been negligent by allowing scammers to use verified accounts. According to him, that gave the fake videos an added sense of legitimacy.
However, his persistence eventually paid off. In March 2024, an appeals court overturned the previous ruling, agreeing with Wozniak’s argument that YouTube materially contributed to the fraud by verifying fake channels.
A Warning to the Tech Industry
However, Wozniak’s victory wasn’t just a legal win. It was a broader call for accountability across the tech world. He publicly warned that new technologies, including artificial intelligence, could make online scams even more widespread.
It’s open to the bad players, the ones that want to trick you about who they are,
he said.
Steve Wozniak and Bitcoin: Reflections on a Complicated Love
Steve Wozniak’s journey through the crypto space is full of striking contradictions.
On one hand, he remains deeply inspired by the mathematical elegance and transparency of Bitcoin.
On the other hand, he’s disillusioned by the scams, empty hype, and exploitation that often surround the crypto market.
He firmly believes in the power of decentralized technologies to empower individuals, fight the climate crisis, and promote greater transparency. At the same time, he fully recognizes the darker side, such as human greed, irresponsibility, and the critical need for strong ethical standards.
Today, Wozniak remains an active participant in the blockchain ecosystem while advocating for responsibility and accountability in the crypto space. He calls for sensible regulation that protects everyday people while maintaining a careful balance between innovation and oversight.
Why the Crypto Industry Needs More Voices Like Steve Wozniak
As cryptocurrencies continue to transform the world, Steve Wozniak’s voice stands out as more relevant than ever. His mix of idealism, technical expertise, and unwavering commitment to ethics makes him a rare figure in the industry.
Wozniak believes that cryptocurrency should be grounded in clean mathematics and genuine human values, not fueled by greed or artificial buzz.
In today’s tech landscape, where rapid growth is often followed by sudden collapse, Steve Wozniak’s clarity offers a guiding light.
His story is a reminder that the real promise of blockchain lies not in quick gains, but in creating a more transparent and just digital future.
And in that future, the crypto industry needs more people like Steve Wozniak—visionaries driven by a love for mathematics, yet grounded in human values.
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