Google co-founder Sergey Brin says he's been mining ethereum with his son

Zoë Bernard
Updated
sergey brin
sergey brin

AP/Tony Avelar

  • Speaking at a blockchain conference in Morocco, Google co-founder Sergey Brin said that he's been mining ethereum with his son.

  • Brin said that while Google has been slow to explore blockchain technology, he personally found the technology to be  "mind-boggling" and "extraordinary." 

Google co-founder Sergey Brin and his son have been mining ethereum.

At a blockchain conference hosted by Sir Richard Branson in Morocco, Brin, dressed in a white caftan, appeared on a panel to discuss the potential of blockchain technology.

Brin said that he first became interested in blockchain technology when his son asked for a gaming PC.

"A year or two ago, my son insisted that we needed to get a gaming PC," said Brin. "I told him, 'Okay, if we get a gaming PC, we have to mine cryptocurrency. So we set up an ethereum miner on there, and we've made a few pennies, a few dollars since."

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Google co-founder Sergey Brin on zcash's zero knowledge proof's widespread use: "It's really mind-boggling." #BlockchainSummit via @ForbesCrypto pic.twitter.com/04shCk9wbY

Brin, who currently serves as the president of Google's parent company, Alphabet, said that Google had been slow to pick up blockchain technology.

"[Google] already failed to be on the bleeding edge," he said.

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Google co-founder Sergey Brin is a last minute addition to the #BlockchainSummit panel on emerging technologies. Says he is mining ethereum with his son. Via @ForbesCrypto pic.twitter.com/vcp8qa0mcD

While Brin admitted that he didn't know too much about cryptocurrencies, he said that he found the technology's potential to be "extraordinary."

"It's mind-boggling," said Brin. "I see the future as taking these...research-y, out-there ideas and making them real."

Brin, who was a last-minute addition to the conference, was recently spotted sailing off the coast of Ibiza alongside venture capitalist Steve Jurvetson. 

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