The Daily Show: Ears Edition - Everything You Need to Know About Cryptocurrency and NFTs

Episode Date: May 27, 2021

Trevor examines the sudden rise of NFTs, Jordan Klepper gets a lesson on the benefits of Bitcoin cryptocurrency from his puppet friend, and Ronny Chieng investigates stupid meme currencies. Learn mor...e about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Starting point is 00:01:12 Very few have been given access to the treasures in our archives. You're rolling. But that's all about to change. Like none of this stuff gets looked at. That's what's incredible. I'm Seth Done of CBS News. Listen to 60 Minutes a second look on Apple podcasts starting September 17th. you probably know that it's the latest hot trend that teenagers have to explain to their parents and grandparents and boyfriends but this trend also has big money behind it. The new craze breaking out in the crypto world and it's all about crypto collectibles, non-fungible tokens or exploding in popularity.
Starting point is 00:01:59 In February alone, NFT sales hitting $3 million that's up from $12 million in December. NFT stands for non-fungible token. Now, in economics, fungible means you can trade one identical unit for another. I think a dollar bill, gold, oil, or Bitcoin. Non-fungible means it's unique. It can't be replaced.
Starting point is 00:02:19 In music, the Kings of Leon releasing an NFT only album. In social media, Jack Dorsey's first tweet, selling for nearly $3 million. The art world just turned upside down, with the sale of this digital collage, entitled The First 5,000 Days, a work that took 13 years to create. It sold Thursday in an auction for $69.3 million. That's right. Move over GameStop. There's a new confusing internet stay in an auction for $69.3 million.
Starting point is 00:02:45 That's right. Move over GameStop. There's a new confusing internet money thing in town. But yes, NFTs are blowing up so much right now that one digital collage sold for $69 million. $69 million. I would never pay that much for a collage. Never. Unless it was the one from that Tupac video where all the little videos of Tupac turned into
Starting point is 00:03:10 one giant image of Tupac. Do you remember that? Yo, that shit blew my mind. But if I did spend 69 million on a picture, best believe that would be the only picture I show people ever again. Didn't you just have a baby Trevor? Yeah, don't worry about that. Don't worry about it. Look at this though, look at this picture. 69 million dollars. 69 million dollars. Shut up! Huh? The problem though is that if digital pictures become the new status symbol, you realize that rap videos are about to get boring as hell. Because I mean instead of showing off expensive cars or pet tigers, well what rappers are just going to be th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th out th out th out th out th out th out th out tho tho th out thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi. Don't thi. Don't thi. Don't thi. Don't thi. Don't thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi. Don't th. Don't th. Don't th. Don't th. Don't th. Don't th. Don't th. Don't th. Don't th. Don't thi. Don't thi. Don't thi. Don't thi. Don't thi. Don't thi. Don't thi. Don't thi. Don't thi. Don't thi. Don't thi. Don't thi. thi. thi. thi. thiii. Don't thi. Don't thi. Don't thi. Don't thi. are about to get boring as hell. Because I mean instead of showing off expensive cars or pet tigers, well, rappers are just going to be clicking through their computer.
Starting point is 00:03:50 Now, this may all seem insane, but the truth is, guys, the idea of spending money on digital collectibles, thi's it much different than spending money on anything else. Now, this may all truth is, guys, the idea of spending money on digital collectibles isn't much different than spending money on anything else. You know, anything else that people collect like baseball cards or Beanie Babies or the fingers of Secret Service agents. NFTs are really just a new twist on that. The idea of collectibles has always been very physical. You have comic books that you read or you have art that you hang on your wall, but with these it is meant to be entirely digital. On the surface, buyers appear to be purchasing what's already on the internet for free
Starting point is 00:04:33 like this video of a monstrous dunk by LeBron James. The clip recently sold as a digital trading card for $208,000 dollars, but you can still watch it online at no cost. Think of the Mona Lisa. It's an original piece of art. It couldn't be swapped out for, say, a Mona Lisa poster from the Louvre gift shop because the poster doesn't hold the same value. Exactly. A Mona Lisa from the gift shop isn't as valuable as the painting itself, unless Leonardo da Vinci also painted Mona Lisa onto a mouse pad.
Starting point is 00:05:07 Oh, if you don't mind, can you stay a little longer, please? This one is for Greg and HR's desk, okay? Yes, smile, but not too much a smile, just like a kind of smile. Ah, perfect, perfect. Oh, he's gonna love this one for the mouse, huh? And I know, I know right now, you might be, but Trevor, why would I want a clip of LeBron dunking? I'd rather have an NFT of something you never see like the Knicks winning a championship! But it's not just a clip of LeBron dunking. It's the official clip of LeBron dunking, and that's what makes it valuable because people love to have things that no one else has. Checking. Check. Check. Check. Check, th. C, th. th. th. th. thi, and thi, and thi, and thi, and thi, and thi, and thi, and thi, thi, and thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, th, thi, and thi, th- th- this this th- th- th- th- this th- th, I I I th, I I th, I I th, I I th, I I I th, I I I th, I I th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th th th th th th th th th th th th that that that that that that that that this that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that this that this to have things that no one else has. Check out this dog turd.
Starting point is 00:05:47 Ew, gross. It's the only turd that dog ever made. I'll give you a million dollars for it. And if you're thinking, well, that's kind of unusual, but it would still be cool to buy the original version of a digital artwork or a song or a video, well here's where it gets weird. That's not exactly what you're buying either. An NFT is kind of like a certificate of ownership for virtual assets. Essentially when you buy an NFT, you're not buying the horse, the horse is somewhere
Starting point is 00:06:17 else. You're buying the racing papers that say here's where the horse came from, here's who's owned it over all these years, here's this horse's record. What the buyer gets is essentially a long string of numbers and letters. It's a code that exists on the Ethereum blockchain. It relies on blockchain technology, sometimes described as a kind of digital recordkeeping. It's a secure way to track when digital items change hands online. Yes. Essentially what you're buying with an NFT is a long digital receipt that has your transaction along with every transaction that has ever happened.
Starting point is 00:06:56 So basically it's like a CBS receipt. You know, it's miles of irrelevant information, but somewhere buried in there, it says that you bought a Gatorade and pretzels. And maybe condoms, but not condoms. You went for the gatorade and pretzels. In other words, the point of NFTs is to create artificial scarcity. And this isn't just so that speculators with too much money can make even more money, it can also be a way for artists and musicians to make a living in the digital age. Like right now, one of your favorite musicians is probably scraping by on a fraction of a penny
Starting point is 00:07:29 every time someone streams one of their songs. But if they auction off that song to the highest bidder as an NFT, now, that musician that you love won't have to rent out his face for ad space. But there are also some potential problems with NFTs. For one thing, like thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, one thi, one thi, one thi, one thi, one thi, thi, one the, the, the, the, the, the, the, is th is th is th is th is th is th is th is th is th is th is th is th is th is th is th is th is th is th is th is th is th is th is th is th is th is th is thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, the, the, the is the an the an theananananananananananananananananan theanananananananananan the an the an the an the is the, the is to rent out his face for ad space. But there are also some potential problems with NFTs. For one thing, like cryptocurrency, making some NFTs requires massive amounts of energy, which contributes to climate change. So every time you buy one, you basically have to think, how many polar bears am I
Starting point is 00:07:59 willing to kill for this distracted boyfriend meme. I mean, not five, obviously, but maybe four. Oh, and there's something else you might want to consider before you sink your life savings into an NFT. Along with all the hype around NFTs, experts have raised some concerns. Basically, the blockchain is a permanent record. While the record is permanent and stable, the location where the work is hosted may not be.
Starting point is 00:08:28 Effectively you're buying access to a code that runs through a gateway online. If the gateway, effective, the website goes down, you've lost whatever you just bought. And if that server happens to be holding the object goes down or it's move, who's ever controlling it, forgets to pay their hosting fee, then your NFT could point to nothing to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to not to to to to to to to to to be holding the object goes down or it's moved, who's ever controlling it forgets to pay their hosting fee, then your NFT could point to nothing. Let's say that I buy an NFT and I go to the link for the third-party hosting thing that has gone down. And what I see is the most expensive 4-4 of my life. Man, if I spend $69 million on a JPEG, you better believe my basement is going to have more backup servers than Hillary Clinton.
Starting point is 00:09:10 Imagine if you spent millions of dollars to own the crying Jordan meme and then you lost it. Now you don't even have a meme to show how sad you are. Like, this would be the dumbest way possible to lose a valuable collectable. At least if you lose a rare piece of artwork, what happened? A cat burglar, they had to pull off like an ingenious heist. To lose an NFT, you just need a janitor to bump the surge protector with a vacuum. So now you know about NFTs. And they may be the next big thing in the world of collectibles, but if you invested in one, you better pray the server that's hosting it never goes down.
Starting point is 00:09:47 Otherwise, that rap video is about to get real sad. Mom! The things shut down. Hey, this we're getting money so like, hey, this we're getting when he's music! Stop the music! Mom! The thing shut down! Mom! Hey kids!
Starting point is 00:10:08 Today we're going to learn about commerce. And we're going to do it with some help from my friend, Smugley. Ugh. Smugley, I want to buy an action figure collectible from the new Robo Dinosaur movie. I'm not sure if I have enough money. If I have four quarters and ten dimes, can you tell me how much that's worth? Yeah, you got scrap metal. No, it's money. That's called Fiat money. The future is crypto. You got to get into Bitcoin. Bitcoin. Isn't that the money you use to buy synthetic marijuana from the Philippines? No, no, no, no, no. I mean, yes, but not just that.
Starting point is 00:10:46 You can buy all kinds of things with Bitcoin. Like a robo-dinosaur collectible? Uh, sure, you can buy any dumb toy you want. Well, technically it's not a toy, it's a collectible. You see, Bitcoin is a semi-anonymous digital currency, online and what's called the blockchain. Ooh, blockchain. Like Legos? Legos? Legos? Jesus Christ. But let me start at the beginning.
Starting point is 00:11:08 Give me a dollar. Okay. Now, what is this dollar bill worth? One dollar. Uh-huh. And which is worth wiping my puppet ass? What? Oh, put aly, that's my dollar. Yeah, relax, man. Every dollar bill's been in someone's ass. The point is, it comes from a central bank,
Starting point is 00:11:26 which can just print them out of thin air. That's called inflation. And that's why, 30 years ago, a bottle of Lambrusco only cost $5, and now I'm paying like 15? That's highway. So, how does Bitcoin fix all this? Fix all this? Well, it's hard-capped at 21 million Bitcoin, so there's no inflation. And the only way to find those 21 million is through mining.
Starting point is 00:11:48 Mining! So bitcoins come from the ground? No, not that kind of mining. Jesus, this is why I didn't want to work on a kid's show. But, oh, a puppet can't work a trading gasket. That's discrimination. Should you really be mixing the pills the the the the the thi mixing thi mixing the thi mixing thi mixing thi mixing thi mixing thi mixing that? That's how Prince died. Okay, all you need to know is that you and all the other kids out there, better make the leaf to Bitcoin as soon as you can. Kids, I'm 41. 41. And you're trying to buy a toy dinosaur? Sweet baby James. I thought you just had like a hormone imbalance or something. To be clear it's a collectible. And look, if I want to buy one of these th th th th these th th th th th th the th the th th the the th the thi their their their thi their their thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thirty thirty thirty thi thi. I thirty thirty th. I th. I th. I'm th. I'm th. I'm th. I'm thi. I'm thi. I'm thi. I'm thi. I th. I thi. I th. I thi. I th. I th. I thi. I thi. I thi. I thi. I thi. I thi. I thin. I thin. I thin. I thin. I thin. I thin. I'm thin. I'm th. I'm to to t. I'm too toy. toy. tipe. tipe. tipe. tipe. th. th. th. th. th. th. trying to buy a toy dinosaur? Sweet baby James. I thought you'd just had like a hormone imbalance or something. To be clear it's a collectible and...
Starting point is 00:12:26 Look, if I want to buy one of these bitcoins, how much does it cost? Well, that depends on the market rate and what someone will take for it. Uh, right now they're worth a lot. More than a toy dinosaur? Bonnie to watch me baby bop his wife. Sounds like I better get a Bitcoin. It's the money of the future. Unless the power or internet access goes out, and the risk of being decentralized means if someone gets control of 51% of the blockchain, they mail to the ledger.
Starting point is 00:12:55 And of course the deflation problem, because why would anyone use Bitcoin to buy things if it keeps getting more valuable? Hey, you may not be able to print to print to print to print to print to print to print to print to print to print to print to print to print to print to print to print to print to print to print to print a to print to print a to print you may not be able to print new bitcoins, but anyone can make new crypto so Bitcoin could be made obsolete through competition, or the government could just decide to ban them. Anyway, that's just a couple thoughts off the top of my head. Yeah, those are, those are good points. That's why the safest thing to do is to diversify and to put your money into other things. Like while you w W w w w w w w w w w w w w w w w w w w w w w w w w w w w w w w w w w w w w w w w w w w w w w w w w w w w w w w w w w well. Well. Well. Well. Well. Well. Well, well. Well, well, well, well, well, well, well, well, well, well, well, well, thi. thi. thi. th. th. th. th. th. th. the, the, the, thi. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th is thi, thi, thi thi thi the is the is the is the is the is theeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee is the is Like what? Well, while you were talking, I bought this collectible dinosaur. Okay, well that's what I wanted to buy. Yeah, exactly.
Starting point is 00:13:29 There's clearly a demand, and that's what makes it valuable in the market. Why don't you let me buy that off you? Well, you can bid for it on eBay with all the rest of the man children. That's a dick that's! Ah! Ha! Ha! Finding great candidates to hire can be like trying to find a needle in a haystack. You might get a lot of resumes, but not enough candidates with the right skills or experience. But not with Zip Recruiter. Zip Recruiter finds amazing candidates for you fast. And right now you can try it for free, at Zip Recruiter's smart technology identifies top talentanant talent talent talent talent talent talent talent talent talent talent talent talent talent talent talent talent talent talent talent for tal tal tals tals tals tals tals tals tals tals tals tals tals tap tap to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to the the the the the the te the te te te te try thea thea toe toe toe toe to to to to to to to to to to to try it for free at ziprecruter.com. Zip Recruiters smart technology identifies top talent for your roles quickly. Immediately after you post
Starting point is 00:14:09 your job, zip recruiters powerful matching technology starts showing you qualified people for it and you can use zip recruiters pre-written invite to apply message to personally reach out to your favorite candidates and encourage them to apply sooner. Ditch the other hiring sites and let zipip Recruiter find what you're looking for, the needle in the haystack. Four out of five employers who post on Zip Recruiter get a quality candidate within the first day. Try it for free at this exclusive web address.
Starting point is 00:14:35 Zip Recruiter.com slash zip. Zip Recruiter, the smartest way to hire. When 60 Minutes premiered in September 1968, there was nothing like it. This is 60 Minutes. It's a kind of a magazine for television. Very few have been given access to the treasures in our archives. But that's all about to change. Like none of this stuff gets looked at. That's what's incredible.
Starting point is 00:15:03 I'm Seth Done of CBS News. Listen to 60 Minutes, a second look, starting September 17th, wherever you get your podcasts. NFT. NFT. NFT. NFT. The non-fungal toenails, or naked flag tricks, or non-fungible tokens. Whatever they are, everyone is talking about it. What is this new system, where digital-only products are bought and sold? The painted work by the robot known as Sophia sold for $700,000 at auction.
Starting point is 00:15:42 A robot painting worth $700,000? That's definitely a scam. To find out exactly how the tech bros are screwing us this time, I spoke to the top tech bro. Nah, it's not a scam. It's the real deal. You can really make some money, definitely with NFTs. Because you said so? Yes. Look, Mark, just level with me here, okay? Is this like the Mavericks where you got stuck with NFTs and now? the thies?. And thies, thies, thies, and now, thi, and now, and now, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi's thi's thousand, thousand, thousand, thousand, thousand, thi's thi's thi's thi's thi, Mark, just level with me here, okay? Is this like the Mavericks where you got stuck with NFTs and now you're just trying to convince everyone that's cool? For real, Ronnie? NFTs are really a game changer. I can issue an NFT to allow you to have ownership in my house.
Starting point is 00:16:17 I can issue an NFT, to have ownership in that trophy behind me. You can spend 25, 50, $100 on great collectible art. This stuff is just starting. It's going to get bigger and bigger and bigger as more people understand it and become comfortable with it. I don't know what the fuck it is. It's just a simple way to own things. What I really admire is how you've taken something really simple that people understood and replaced it with something super complicated and it's going to make you even more rich. Bravo.
Starting point is 00:16:50 Ronnie, look if you go into NFTs, don't do it to speculate. Don't buy something because you think it's going to be worth millions of dollars. Buy something because you want to collect it and if you really truly like it, then it's worth it. The Cube had be convinced it's to buy to me convinced, it's time to buy NFT art. But should I start with a gift, a song by Trevor's cool twin, or a pyro-girl meme? Or, I could pick up some work by one of the stars of this new scene, digital artist Beeple. The technology is actually quite simple. You basically just upload a video. And you can just make an entity out of any video, any picture, any sound, anything you want.
Starting point is 00:17:28 Wow. Great. But how much can you realistically make off this? I sold a JPEG that was a compilation of the last 13 years of work that I did and that just sold at Christie's for 69 million dollars, making me the third, no, no, third most expensive living artists. What? Holy shit, this dude raked in $69 million on an NFT of 1 JPEG. This must be some Mona Lisa level artwork. Okay, you know what, can you just show me this art that you're talking about? Okay, so here's the piece that I sold.
Starting point is 00:18:04 This was the first picture that I did to drawing on my Uncle Jim.. And, and th. And, and this, and this, and this, and this, and this, and this, and th, and th, and thi, and this, and thi, and this, and thi, and thi, and thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, what thi, what thi, what thi, what thi, what thi, what thi, what thi, what thi, what thi, what thi, what thi, what thi, what thi, what thi, what thi, what thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi-a, thi-a, thi-a, thi-s, thi-s, thi-s, thi-s, thi-s, thiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii. thii. What's th's the piece that I sold. This was the first picture that I did to drawing on my Uncle Jim, and this down here is the absolute last picture. It's a bunch of weird stuff drawn by a fully adult man pervert. Yeah, that's a real inspirational message. Keep being a weird pervert. And eventually, if you don't get arrested you might make 69 million dollars. And it turns out people's art only gets more mature from there.
Starting point is 00:18:30 So the Mickey thing is sort of imagining if everybody wanted to drink milk from this weird robot Mickey thing because they put super addictive properties into it so people were kind of a bit cracked out trying to get this Mickey Mout. Okay look I don't know much about art but that looks like something someone who knows about art would say is not odd. Yeah. But what do I know? Maybe no the critic Jerry Saltz could help me appreciate the true value of people's work. What you're seeing is pure Crapola. They're just stupid cartooning, unoriginal, bro, high school notebook, blah.
Starting point is 00:19:15 It's also sold for $69 million. So how do you reconcile your personal opinion with the fact that he's now super rich? Well, art has always loved sleeping with money, and money loves having sex with art. But in this case, it's more like the 69ing, right? It's like a dick waving contest. At auctions, you see white guys bidding up other white guys until, you know, they bring home the trophy.
Starting point is 00:19:45 The next Tech Bro will want to pay $70 million to own the same looking thing, but I promise you, all of them are going to lose money except for, you know, the 4 or 5%. And that's what America's all about. If the price I'm making money is you, Jerry, shitting on it, I think that's a price I'm willing to pay. My instincts were right as always. NFTs are definitely a scam, which means I had one last question for people. Look, I have to get on board, okay? If I don't get in on this,
Starting point is 00:20:19 I'm gonna hate myself forever. One thousand percent, can't lose. Great, so can you lend me some money to get in on this? Um, no. So can I take a photo of your artwork that you just sold and make an NFT out of that? You could. It probably will not sell for very much. We'll see about that, my public friend., yes we will. Cryptocurancy. Is this some fake shit, some fucking nerds made up on the internet to steal our money, or is it the future of finance? There is no way all these people buying cryptocurrency have any idea what the hell they're investing
Starting point is 00:20:59 in. And it's not just Bitcoin. Ethereum, the number two cryptocurrency, has risen 5,000 percent since the start of this year. Why? If you imagine Bitcoin as being a gold coin, Ethereum is a coin that has a magic spell in it. What the hell does that mean? I spoke with one of the founders of Ethereum,
Starting point is 00:21:16 Joe Lubin, to find out. First question, what is it? Ether, the cryptocurrency, that lives on the decentralized Ethereum platform. It's actually a much more programmable cryptocurrency than Bitcoin. That doesn't mean anything. What is it? We created a platform for decentralized applications. Does everyone in cryptocurrency talk like you? Pretty much. Is it just everyone just going decentralized from, you know,
Starting point is 00:21:42 dark web and drugs online? Exactly. Does cryptocurrency make you feel angry and confused? Well it should. To make it easier to understand, we ripped off the big short and asked Margot Robbie to explain it in a bubble bath. But she said no. Cryptocurrances are transparent and decentralized. When two strangers exchange money over the internet, it requires a middleman,
Starting point is 00:22:03 like PayPal or a bank, who takes a percentage of a transaction and that transaction is vulnerable to hacking. Cryptocurrances are recorded in a public ledger called the blockchain, so it's impossible to cheat. They actually solve a lot of problems with exchanging money in a global digital world. Now get the fuck out of you back! But still, is that worth a bajillion dollars? Why do so many suckers on the internet? Sorry, I mean people believe fake money as value.
Starting point is 00:22:30 Ether's real. It's based on faith in the Ethereum blockchain. When you get enough people believing in cryptocurrency, then you can snowball into something that a society actually deems valuable. Like the US dollar. Well, what you mean the US dollar is based is based is based is based is based is based is based is based is based is based based based is based based based based based is based based based is based is based based is based. It is based. It is based. It is based is based. It is based. It is based? It is based? It is based? It is based? It is based? I is based? I is based? I is b. I th. I th. I th. I th. People is b. People th. People th. People be be be be be be be be be be be be be be be be be be be be be be be be be be be be be be be be be be be be be be be be be be be be be be be be be be be be be be be be th. People. People. People. People. People. People. I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, deems valuable, like the US dollar. Wait, what do you mean the US dollar? The US dollar is based on faith in the system. So the only thing backing this money is belief in the competency of the US government?
Starting point is 00:22:58 Unfortunately, that's true. Damn! So not only is cryptocurrency fake, all money is fake. Wake up Wall Street. You know, money isn't real, all this stuff is all fake. But Wall Street doesn't care if money is real, as long as they're making lots of it. They've been pumping millions into Bitcoin and Ethereum, driving the creation of thousands of new cryptocurrency's.
Starting point is 00:23:19 But how low is the bar for entry? Let me get this straight. You took Bitcoin and you just changed the font to Comic Sans. And we put a dog on it. This was the guy to talk to. So tell me about the genesis of Dog E-E coin. Well, firstly it's Doge coin. But I created, why is it Doge? It's actually based on a meme coin. What, it's not? It's not. It's not. It's not. It's not. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. thi. thi. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the th. the. the. the. And, the. And, to to to to to to to to toe toooooooooooooooooooooooooooo. And, toe. And, the. And,coin. Electronic coin. Dog e-coin.
Starting point is 00:23:45 Oh, that's pretty smart, actually. It's not. But guess what? This stupid meme currency is worth almost $400 million. So why does its creator have some problems with cryptocurrency? When you see price charts go up into the ride exponentially. Ultimately, it can be a sign of a bubble. Yeah, bubbles are great. What you're talking about. I love bubbles. People are going to lose a bunch of money. And sure, cryptocurrency might destroy the planet through climate change and
Starting point is 00:24:06 supporting road nuclear states, but this is America! So I decided to make my own cryptocurrency, but that has to be an incredibly complex... Done. That was easy. I did it. It literally takes 10 minutes to go on a website and make your own coin. Time to make it rain, Chan Coin and kick start the financial revolution. You accept Chen coin? Chen? Chen coins like Bitcoin. It's disrupting global financial systems using blockchain technology. No. No, only cash. I'll send you money over the internet.
Starting point is 00:24:38 I'm going to demonstrate. So imagine if I send you this. Right. Thank you. No, right? Thank you. No, no, but digitally. No, no, no, give me back my five. How are people not getting this? No, I'm paying you, I'm paying you in Chanco. Get the fuck out of my camp. Out of my camp.
Starting point is 00:24:55 Remember this moment, remember this moment when you had a chance to jump on Chancoin, and you didn't, all thi loss. Invest in Chancoin. Just don't ask me how it works. Cryptocurrency, the preferred money of the worst dude in your group chat. If you've been on the internet at all this last year, you know that the dream of crypto traders is to send their coins value soaring to the moon. And now, some people are taking that literally. A crypto currency based on the meme of a chubby Shiva-Shiva-cina-cina-cina-cina-cina-cina-cina-cina-cina-cina-cina-cina-c-c-c-c-c-c-c-c-c-c-c-c-c-c-c-c-c-c-c-c-c-c-c-c-c-c-c-c-ininu. And thoinananan, and you tho-in. And you tho-in. And tho-in. And tho-c-c-c-c-c-c-c-c-c-c-c. And th. And you th. And you th. And you th. And th. And th. And th. And th. And you th. And you th. And you thi. And you thi. And you thi. And you thi-cene, and you thi-c-c-c-c-c-c-c-c-c-c-c-c-c-c-c-c-c-c-c-c-c-c-c-c-c-c-c-c-c-c-c-c-c-c-coicicui. And you some people are taking that literally. A cryptocurrency based on the meme of a jubby Shiva Inu dog is paying for a trip to the moon. SpaceX is accepting a popular cryptocurrency as payment for an upcoming moon mission. The Geometric Energy Corporation said it paid SpaceX in Doge coin to secure a spot for an 88 pound satellite on a mission called Doge 1. It's slated to take off in early 2022 and will obtain lunar spatial intelligence from sensors and cameras. Dogecoin is a digital currency founded by
Starting point is 00:25:57 two software engineers in 2013 as a joke. It's now one of the most popular cryptocurancies on the market. Yep that's right. You's now one of the most popular cryptocurrency's on the market. Yep, that's right. You can now use the cryptocurrency doge coin to pay for a space-ex trip to the moon, which means it's time for another episode of our ongoing series. News, I barely understand.
Starting point is 00:26:18 Honestly, people, I can't tell if this story means that crypto is real or space travel is fake. I I I I I I tha tha tha thi thi thi thi thi. I I thi. I tho tho tho tho tho tho tho. I tho tho tho tho tho tho tho tho tho tho tho the. the. the. thoom. thoom. thoom. thoom. tho. tho. tho. tho. tho. tho. tho. tho. tho. tho. tho. tho. tho. tho. tho. tho. tho. tho. tho. that. t. t. t. t. t. t. t. tha. ttha. tt. ttttha. tthae. thae. te. te. te te tean tean tean tean tean tean. tean. tean. tooan. too. te. tell if this story means that crypto is real or space travel is fake. I mean, either way, this is the first space mission where I'm worried that both the rocket and the currency might crash. And even if it is successful, I don't know if I'm the only one, but I'm worried about using crypto for space missions. Like, I don't want humanity's first interaction with aliens to be an astronaut explaining how the blockchain works. So it's a peer-to-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-inin. th-in. th-in. th-in. th-in. th-in. th-in. th-s. th-s. thi-s. thi-s. I'm thi-s. I'm thi-s. I'm thi-mc-mc-mc-mc-mc-mc-mc-mc-mc-mc-mc-m. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th-t. I th-t. I th-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-tode. I'm-tode. I'm thease-tode. I'm theease-tode. the. I'm theeeeeee. thi. thi. the. th's a peer-to-peer digital currency with an online ledger which records ownership through a series of... Stop it. Please stop it. We came in peace, but now you need to shut the fuck up. You know what's crazy about Dogecoin is that it's so valuable, but almost nobody accepts it as actual money. I mean, it must be really weird to be a doge coin billionaire.
Starting point is 00:27:09 Hey, what's up, baby girl? I'm so rich. I'll take you all around the world. Hell, I'll even take you to space. Oh, sounds like fun. But first, I'm so hungry. Can we get a sandwich? Uh, yeah. In that case, I'm going to need you to spot me to spot to spot to spot to spot to spot to spot to spot to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to going to need you to spot me. Yeah. Elon Musk, the founder of Tesla and man who's definitely shouted the phrase, eliminate him.
Starting point is 00:27:35 He's best known for embracing the most futuristic technology. But now, he's moved from crashing self-driving cars to crashing Bitcoin. One of Bitcoin's most famous promoters has just turned on the cryptocurrency. Elon Musk, tweeting earlier this hour, you cannot buy Tesla with Bitcoin anymore due to the rapidly increasing use of fossil fuels for Bitcoin mining and transactions. Cryptocurrency has long had a huge carbon footprint. Bitcoin plunging on the news here, falling 10%. That's right people. From now on, people will no longer be
Starting point is 00:28:11 able to say I bought my Tesla with Bitcoin. So now I'll have to find a new way to be unlikable at parties. But it is shocking to hear this coming from Elon Musk because he has been the guy promoting Bitcoin. And now he says the reason he's doing this is because of environmental concerns but part of me thinks the truth is he probably just lost his Bitcoin password. I mean maybe he wrote it down on a post-it note somewhere and lost it or on his kids birth certificates. But this really goes to show you that Bitcoin has a long way to go as a currency. Because most established currencies don't go up and down based on a random social media post, right?
Starting point is 00:28:52 Like you wouldn't see the effects in real life. Like can you imagine trying to pay a dollar for a candy bar? But then the cashier is like, whoa buddy. That stuff's worthless now. Didn't you see Chloe Kardashian's latest selfie? Yeah, ho ho buddy. Watch the Daily Show, weeknights at 11, 10 Central on Comedy Central, and stream full episodes anytime on Paramount Plus. When 60 Minutes premiered in September 1968, there was nothing like it. This is 60 Minutes. It's a kind of a magazine for television.
Starting point is 00:29:26 Very few have been given access to the treasures in our archives. You're rolling? But that's all about to change. Like, none of this stuff gets looked at. That's what's incredible. I'm Seth Done of CBS News. Listen to 60 minutes, a second look. Starting September 17th, wherever you get your podcasts.
Starting point is 00:29:48 This has been a Comedy Central Podcast.

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