I was way, way out of my comfort zone – but here’s how I made money trading bitcoin

It was exhilarating being on the super-highway to the future for a moment – but it is really little more than gambling, writes Katy Brand

I was the owner of half a bitcoin. I was swimming in a natural current with the cleverest turtles (Getty)

When did you first hear about a thing called cryptocurrency? And what was your immediate reaction? If you are anything like me, it might have been: “I will not be able to understand that. At all.” And then you forgot about it all because there were more pressing matters to attend to like an MOT to book, or a child shouting that there is a wasps’ nest in their bedroom.

So I was as surprised as anyone when a few years ago I actually made some money trading bitcoin. I know. It is scarcely believable. I have only recently learned how to use Google docs.

This is how it happened. Back in 2012 I was feeling a bit flush. Also a little over-confident about my tech abilities having recently bought and installed a new smart TV. On a slightly slow work afternoon, I thought: “I wonder if I could buy a bitcoin? I wonder what that would be like?” I embarked on what I thought of as a kind of “crypto-tech safari”. I was way, way out of my comfort zone.