I'm guessing that by "real" he means "useful", as in it can be "used" to pay for things like medical bills, insurance, student loans, taxes, rent, utilities, gr

I'm guessing that by "real" he means "useful", as in it can be "used" to pay for things like medical bills, insurance, student loans, taxes, rent, utilities, groceries etc. Bitcoin is definitely "real" in some sense of the word, but for most situations it functions similarly to money that is not real (like monopoly money) in that it won't be accepted in exchange for tangible goods and services. Even the relatively few establishments that accept bitcoin as payment don't really regard bitcoin as real enough to accept directly and instead hire a middle man to convert bitcoin into "real" money on their behalf.