Share this article

San Fran on 0.714 bitcoins a day

Forbes tech writer Kashmir Hill tries going for a week living on nothing but bitcoins.

Updated Sep 10, 2021, 10:43 a.m. Published May 2, 2013, 6:30 p.m.
Coffee Mug

Yes, bitcoin fans have more places to spend their money every day. But can the currency sustain real, daily life, as opposed to -- say -- someone who's looking for a unique Hogwarts library, reddit gold or the world's smallest solar-powered car?

That's what Forbes tech writer Kashmir Hill hopes to find out over the next week. As of May 1, she's embarked upon a seven-day personal experiment to see if she can get by living by bitcoin alone, starting with five purchased with the help of Coinbase.

STORY CONTINUES BELOW
Don't miss another story.Subscribe to the Crypto Daybook Americas Newsletter today. See all newsletters

So far, the San Francisco-based Hill has had to walk the two-and-a-half miles from home to work (no bitcoins for BART), waited two hours for a bitcoin-enabled delivery of Indian food via Foodler, cheated a bit by using her Verizon iPhone and relied upon the free coffee at the office (no bitcoins for Starbucks either).

With four bitcoins remaining at the end of day one, Hill had already started to worry about a possible crash in bitcoin value. She closed her first day's post with a bitcoin address and the message, "Will work for bitcoin for food. Taking tips here."

More For You

Protocol Research: GoPlus Security

GP Basic Image

What to know:

  • As of October 2025, GoPlus has generated $4.7M in total revenue across its product lines. The GoPlus App is the primary revenue driver, contributing $2.5M (approx. 53%), followed by the SafeToken Protocol at $1.7M.
  • GoPlus Intelligence's Token Security API averaged 717 million monthly calls year-to-date in 2025 , with a peak of nearly 1 billion calls in February 2025. Total blockchain-level requests, including transaction simulations, averaged an additional 350 million per month.
  • Since its January 2025 launch , the $GPS token has registered over $5B in total spot volume and $10B in derivatives volume in 2025. Monthly spot volume peaked in March 2025 at over $1.1B , while derivatives volume peaked the same month at over $4B.

More For You

Bitcoin drifts lower as $81.3k emerges as the market’s key fault line: Asia Morning Briefing

Bitcoin Logo (Midjourney/modified by CoinDesk)

With large caps still tracking bitcoin and high-beta assets already weakened, Glassnode’s True Market Mean has become the line investors are watching most closely.

What to know:

  • Bitcoin's True Market Mean at $81.3k is a critical level, with potential market-wide implications if breached.
  • Large-cap crypto assets remain closely correlated with bitcoin, reinforcing its role as the market's anchor.
  • Gold prices have surged to record highs, driven by central bank buying and geopolitical risks, with forecasts suggesting further increases.