Legendary Game Programmer John Carmack 'Guardedly Excited' About Bitcoin

Computer game programmer John Carmack expressed some pretty positive views on bitcoin in a series of recent tweets.

AccessTimeIconFeb 1, 2014 at 3:20 p.m. UTC
Updated Sep 11, 2021 at 10:19 a.m. UTC
10 Years of Decentralizing the Future
May 29-31, 2024 - Austin, TexasThe biggest and most established global hub for everything crypto, blockchain and Web3.Register Now

Computer game programmer John Carmack expressed some pretty positive views on bitcoin in a series of recent tweets.

Carmack is co-founder of American video game development company id Software and is best known for his innovations in 3D graphics. He was the lead programmer of the id video games Commander Keen, Wolfenstein 3D, Doom, Quake, Rage and their sequels.

Yesterday, he was asked by a Twitter user to share his thoughts on bitcoin and other digital currencies, his response was largely positive.

— John Carmack (@ID_AA_Carmack) January 31, 2014

This wasn't the first time the CTO at gaming technology company Oculus VR has mentioned bitcoin on Twitter, back in December he revealed he had finally read Satoshi Nakamoto's original white paper on bitcoin.

The paper, titled Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System, was published in 2008 announcing the concept of the digital currency.

— John Carmack (@ID_AA_Carmack) December 30, 2013

On 22nd January, the 43-year-old expressed his annoyance the fact the power of the bitcoin mining network is sometimes quoted in Floating-point Operations Per Second (Flops), so it can be compared with the power of supercomputers.

Earlier this week, he revealed he had donated bitcoin to The OpenBSD Foundation, which supports the development and maintenance of free software based on the OpenBSD operating system.

This is a Unix-like computer operating system descended from Berkeley Software Distribution.

He had the option to pay via PayPal, but opted instead to pay in bitcoins via BitPay.

— John Carmack (@ID_AA_Carmack) January 27, 2014

 OpenBSD Foundation donors have the option to donate bitcoins via BitPay
OpenBSD Foundation donors have the option to donate bitcoins via BitPay

By donating to the foundation in bitcoin, Carmack is ensuring it doesn't lose out on any of the amount donated. If he had paid via PayPal, it's likely the foundation would have to pay a fee of between 1.4% and 3.4% on the total donation amount plus a fixed fee.

John Carmack image via Flickr.

Disclosure

Please note that our privacy policy, terms of use, cookies, and do not sell my personal information has been updated.

CoinDesk is an award-winning media outlet that covers the cryptocurrency industry. Its journalists abide by a strict set of editorial policies. In November 2023, CoinDesk was acquired by the Bullish group, owner of Bullish, a regulated, digital assets exchange. The Bullish group is majority-owned by Block.one; both companies have interests in a variety of blockchain and digital asset businesses and significant holdings of digital assets, including bitcoin. CoinDesk operates as an independent subsidiary with an editorial committee to protect journalistic independence. CoinDesk employees, including journalists, may receive options in the Bullish group as part of their compensation.


Learn more about Consensus 2024, CoinDesk's longest-running and most influential event that brings together all sides of crypto, blockchain and Web3. Head to consensus.coindesk.com to register and buy your pass now.


Read more about