Popular English comedian John Oliver, dedicated a segment of his comedy show ‘Last Week Tonight’, to cryptocurrencies. In the latest show, Oliver, started with “Discussions of new technology tend to age badly,” and continued to talk about cryptocurrencies saying it is “everything you don’t understand about money with everything you don’t understand about computers.”
Oliver is not the first comedian to talk about Bitcoin. Recently, Ellen Lee DeGeneres took a few minutes to explain Bitcoin to her audience. During the show, DeGeneres compared the most popular cryptocurrency – Bitcoin – to a “Digital Goat”.
‘Bitcoins Are Like Beanie Babies’
The popular comedian spent next few minutes talking about advantages and some disadvantages of Bitcoin and blockchain technology. However, he took an unbiased opinion on the overall crypto ecosystem.
Oliver started with the fundamentals of Bitcoin, explaining the cryptocurrency as a decentralized currency that is not controlled by banks and is borderless. The popular comedian focused on the ability of blockchain technology to enhance “speed and security” when transacting money. Moreover, he compared Bitcoin to beanie babies, highlighting that its value is derived from the simple fact that people are willing to pay.
ICOs, EOS And Bitconnect
The following section of the show covered questionable crypto practices such as ICOs. Oliver jokingly talked about names of coins in the market like Deepionion, Wax, and Insanecoin.
However, before completing the crypto segment, Oliver warned his viewers about the negative sides of the markets – the scams that include pump-and-dump schemes and ponzi schemes similar to the infamous Bitconnect.
Towards the end of the segment, the focus was on EOS – a cryptocurrency token that acts as a smart contract platform. According to him, the coin has “no purpose” yet it has managed to raise more money than other tech companies like Facebook in a short time frame.
Oliver said:
“Who knows? Maybe EOS is going to be the next Google. I don’t think it is, and I certainly don’t think it can be worth over a billion dollars at this point, but I could be wrong. I’m absolutely not, but I could be,”
The show had nothing new for those who already know the crypto market but still was an entertaining segment. What made it different from other mainstream media shows, is the factual unbiased opinion on the crypto market. The segment was a reflection of how the crypto space is at present.
