WEBVTT - Episode 26: Bitcoin 0:00:08.920 --> 0:00:12.959 What's up everybody? How you're going? And you are hearing 0:00:13.000 --> 0:00:16.040 those cool tunes? You know, it's another episode of Nerdificent. 0:00:16.239 --> 0:00:18.880 I'm if you Waddy Way and sitting across from me, 0:00:19.000 --> 0:00:24.040 it's my good friend Danny Danny Fernandez. You said how 0:00:24.320 --> 0:00:26.159 what did you say? At the beginning of this It 0:00:26.200 --> 0:00:28.360 didn't make sense. I think you meant to say, how 0:00:28.400 --> 0:00:30.520 are you doing? But you said how are you going? 0:00:31.320 --> 0:00:34.159 A new wave? That's a new wave? You know. No, 0:00:34.720 --> 0:00:36.880 I feel like you just haven't had enough coffee today. 0:00:37.000 --> 0:00:42.320 How y'all going? Yeah, that's what we say around these parts. 0:00:42.360 --> 0:00:45.120 How y'all going? How y'all going? And you don't say 0:00:45.240 --> 0:00:47.920 do you say y'all? I say y'all? Oh yeah, Apparently 0:00:47.960 --> 0:00:50.279 that's Australian slang. So you know I've been I've been 0:00:50.320 --> 0:00:57.880 a heavily in Texas. They say that they're fixing too, fixing. 0:00:58.440 --> 0:01:01.840 So today we're talking about bitcoins, and you know, I 0:01:02.600 --> 0:01:04.560 know a few of y'all y'all saw that title, y'all 0:01:04.640 --> 0:01:08.800 HiPE y'all like I've been thinking about getting in a bitcoin? Well, uh, 0:01:09.200 --> 0:01:11.960 you may not want to or you may do you 0:01:12.080 --> 0:01:14.880 depending on what you take from this episode. It could 0:01:14.920 --> 0:01:18.480 go either way. I've I've been on that ledge, and 0:01:18.560 --> 0:01:21.400 every time I've been ready to jump the water, it 0:01:21.440 --> 0:01:25.479 was it's like trying to jump into the ocean on 0:01:25.520 --> 0:01:29.399 a rocky ledge that like the wave keeps pulling back, 0:01:29.440 --> 0:01:32.360 and every time I want to jump, I only see rocks. 0:01:32.600 --> 0:01:36.080 So I didn't sit back down. I definitely regretted that. 0:01:36.120 --> 0:01:38.039 I like it was something that I could have bought, 0:01:38.040 --> 0:01:39.679 and then I was like, oh, damn, I should have 0:01:39.760 --> 0:01:42.560 because now it's worth so much. And then now I 0:01:42.560 --> 0:01:44.720 feel bad, like now that I saw that it isn't 0:01:44.760 --> 0:01:49.040 spoiler alert, um, I was like, well, good, you know. 0:01:49.760 --> 0:01:52.320 But that's that's what's so funny about it is if 0:01:52.440 --> 0:01:55.120 I would have gotten into it when I first heard 0:01:55.120 --> 0:01:57.920 of it, oh yeah, it was good, but we wouldn't 0:01:57.920 --> 0:02:01.600 be friends and I'd be you and yeah, i'd be 0:02:01.680 --> 0:02:04.840 smoking weed next to Elon Musk on Joe Rogan Show, 0:02:04.920 --> 0:02:11.160 like yeah, bro. But no, since I've known about it 0:02:11.200 --> 0:02:15.680 for so long, I know that like the amount of 0:02:16.000 --> 0:02:18.400 that I would gain from it would never be as much, 0:02:18.720 --> 0:02:21.040 So it's always easier to just pass on it from 0:02:21.080 --> 0:02:23.440 here on out. You know, you still got those like 0:02:23.520 --> 0:02:26.560 magic the gathering cards, so that could be your retirement 0:02:26.639 --> 0:02:29.240 right there. Oh yeah, we'll see, we'll see. I definitely 0:02:29.360 --> 0:02:33.680 still have my rare sleeve, you know, get some stuff 0:02:33.720 --> 0:02:37.840 busting out of there. They have my beanie babies that 0:02:39.240 --> 0:02:43.200 I have the Tag Protectors, that's my investment. They're worth 0:02:43.680 --> 0:02:48.640 seven nine. That's what's so funny is the influx of 0:02:48.720 --> 0:02:54.000 like collectible collectible things and me always having some weird 0:02:54.080 --> 0:02:56.800 hand in it. Like now Funco pops are starting to 0:02:56.880 --> 0:03:00.960 become this new collector's trend. The like the limited edition 0:03:01.000 --> 0:03:03.320 ones because most of them you can still get for 0:03:03.400 --> 0:03:06.120 ten dollars. Oh yeah, I think even some you can 0:03:06.200 --> 0:03:09.320 even get, like the the rare ones, the twenty ones, 0:03:09.360 --> 0:03:11.640 like the Dragon ball Z. I think they're forty, which 0:03:11.680 --> 0:03:14.399 isn't a bad cop for me, like I said. But 0:03:14.919 --> 0:03:17.959 then you have things like sneakers. They've always been this 0:03:18.120 --> 0:03:21.720 constant because I think the sneakers are synonymous with like 0:03:21.800 --> 0:03:26.239 a quick turnaround gain. So it's always interesting to see 0:03:26.320 --> 0:03:30.000 during the super hyped release the people that gather to 0:03:30.080 --> 0:03:32.520 get it, Like when I wanted the Chinese New Year 0:03:32.600 --> 0:03:34.880 Jay's two years ago because I got the ones from 0:03:34.920 --> 0:03:37.640 this year, not two years ago. Last year because I 0:03:37.640 --> 0:03:40.880 got the ones this year. I remember me and my 0:03:40.920 --> 0:03:44.839 buddy Echo, We're kind of like, we're both struck out 0:03:44.880 --> 0:03:48.119 online and we're like, let's go to the Glendale Galleria 0:03:48.320 --> 0:03:51.280 because they had a first come, first serve, which is 0:03:51.320 --> 0:03:54.280 always anytime. Let me give you a tip sneaker heads. 0:03:54.320 --> 0:03:56.440 You know we're getting close to the DBZ release, so 0:03:56.480 --> 0:03:59.520 a lot of you uh nerds and would be sneaker 0:03:59.520 --> 0:04:01.360 heads might be I'm gonna give you the first any 0:04:01.360 --> 0:04:04.640 time something is first come, first serve. The time you 0:04:04.640 --> 0:04:06.640 think you're getting there, even if you think it's early, 0:04:06.800 --> 0:04:09.120 is never going to be early enough. I learned that 0:04:09.240 --> 0:04:12.320 the first time when I wanted these Bapadida en m 0:04:12.400 --> 0:04:16.640 d s. They were super clean, super nice, and they 0:04:16.680 --> 0:04:20.159 said that you can start lining up after the store 0:04:20.200 --> 0:04:25.400 closes at nine pm for the next day after the 0:04:25.440 --> 0:04:28.039 next day, So me and my sister we packed like 0:04:28.080 --> 0:04:30.400 a sleeping bag. We come through. I'm like, we're gonna 0:04:30.400 --> 0:04:33.599 be good. We're gonna come at eight pm. Thinking I 0:04:33.760 --> 0:04:37.400 was real slick when I say that line was wrapped 0:04:37.400 --> 0:04:41.560 around the block multiple times, and when we got there, 0:04:42.600 --> 0:04:44.760 we were asking how long have people been here there? 0:04:44.800 --> 0:04:49.480 Like since this morning? So two days they waited two 0:04:49.560 --> 0:04:52.600 days in line because I feel I think you were 0:04:52.600 --> 0:04:54.840 able to cop this you for like one eight and 0:04:54.920 --> 0:04:57.640 you were able to flip it for a grand so 0:04:58.080 --> 0:05:01.800 so Crow, you think about that. If you say, like 0:05:01.880 --> 0:05:04.760 your day rate is to fifty, that's still more than 0:05:04.880 --> 0:05:07.120 your day right, Oh my god. Yeah, there are the 0:05:07.120 --> 0:05:08.880 ones that you The new ones that you're talking about 0:05:08.920 --> 0:05:11.000 are the Dragon moll Z the Adidas line, which I'm 0:05:11.040 --> 0:05:15.240 pretty uh pretty they've I've been tagged in them quite 0:05:15.240 --> 0:05:19.440 a bit the last like two months, been sending it 0:05:19.480 --> 0:05:22.080 to us. I like the intention behind making sure I 0:05:22.120 --> 0:05:24.640 see it. But if you know my brand, you know 0:05:24.720 --> 0:05:29.719 I've seen like I am a nerd slash sneaker head, 0:05:29.800 --> 0:05:32.720 so like it is, it has been deep. I've before 0:05:32.800 --> 0:05:35.040 you've thought to send it to me. I've known about this. 0:05:35.160 --> 0:05:37.960 I've known about this since August of last year. That's 0:05:37.960 --> 0:05:43.120 how long. Yeah, I've been tracking them ever since. But 0:05:43.279 --> 0:05:46.599 sometimes people do hit me with like some leaked images 0:05:46.640 --> 0:05:49.520 that I didn't see, Like someone tagged me in one 0:05:49.520 --> 0:05:51.839 where it was like the Gokus that we see now 0:05:52.480 --> 0:05:54.520 and that was the first time I seem like the 0:05:54.560 --> 0:05:59.320 close to finished product. But yeah, I never think that 0:05:59.400 --> 0:06:02.520 you're going to be the one. There's that's wow. Speaking 0:06:02.560 --> 0:06:04.960 of tangents, I feel like that is the deepest, longest, 0:06:05.000 --> 0:06:10.320 and earliest tangent that we've had. But speaking of getting 0:06:10.320 --> 0:06:13.120 in early making money, let's talk about what is bitcoin? 0:06:13.240 --> 0:06:15.120 Some people might not even know what it is, and 0:06:15.160 --> 0:06:18.560 some people kind of heard of it and are wondering 0:06:18.640 --> 0:06:21.720 where it came from. What is it? What is that bitcoin? 0:06:22.480 --> 0:06:27.359 Bitcoin's I don't want to get in trouble this time. Bitcoin. 0:06:27.480 --> 0:06:30.240 What is bitcoin? It was invented in two thousand and 0:06:30.320 --> 0:06:33.440 nine by a person or a group. This is debated 0:06:33.480 --> 0:06:37.760 because there's no real person that's been credited necessarily um 0:06:37.800 --> 0:06:41.919 who called himselves Satoshi Nakamoto. So his stated goal was 0:06:41.960 --> 0:06:45.920 to create a this isn't quote, a new electronic cash 0:06:45.960 --> 0:06:51.880 system that was completely decentralized with no server or central authority. Yeah. 0:06:51.960 --> 0:06:55.040 And then after cultivating it in two thousand life Nakamoto 0:06:55.160 --> 0:06:58.039 turned over the source code and the domains too pretty 0:06:58.120 --> 0:07:01.400 much everyone else in the bitcoin community, and subsequently vanished. 0:07:01.480 --> 0:07:04.760 Because we'll get into it. The bitcoin is stronger the 0:07:04.839 --> 0:07:07.600 more people who are who has their kind of tentacles 0:07:07.600 --> 0:07:09.960 in it and keeps it going. Uh. And if you 0:07:10.000 --> 0:07:11.880 want more on that. The New Yorker did a great 0:07:11.880 --> 0:07:15.200 profile of Nakamoto from two thousand and eleven, so definitely 0:07:15.240 --> 0:07:17.800 peep that. If you got it'll be in them footnoice. 0:07:18.120 --> 0:07:22.120 So what exactly is bitcoin? So? Bitcoin, simply put is 0:07:22.160 --> 0:07:25.240 a digital currency, so there's no bills to print or 0:07:25.320 --> 0:07:29.320 coins to mint. It's decentralized, so there's no government institution 0:07:29.400 --> 0:07:33.240 like a bank or authority that controls it. Yeah, and 0:07:33.240 --> 0:07:35.720 and the owners are anonymous, which is kind of why 0:07:35.760 --> 0:07:38.600 it grew so popular in the first place. So instead 0:07:38.600 --> 0:07:41.880 of using names, tax ideas or social security numbers, bitcoins 0:07:41.880 --> 0:07:45.480 connect buyers and sellers through encryption keys. It's very, very 0:07:45.640 --> 0:07:48.960 very secure, right, And it is an issue from top 0:07:49.000 --> 0:07:52.360 down like a traditional currency. Rather, bitcoin is mined by 0:07:52.360 --> 0:07:56.480 powerful computers connected to the internet. Uh. And this we'll 0:07:56.480 --> 0:08:01.360 get into has affected many different economies, most certainly most 0:08:01.360 --> 0:08:06.240 affecting me and superproducer Dan just building PCs and well, 0:08:06.280 --> 0:08:09.280 like I said, we'll get into that later, I'm very 0:08:09.320 --> 0:08:13.600 salty about it. Still to this day, bitcoins have really 0:08:13.800 --> 0:08:16.679 done in the kind of build your own computer game 0:08:17.320 --> 0:08:20.760 and it's because of this, because they were minding it. 0:08:21.240 --> 0:08:25.640 But that's kind of when I first learned about bitcoin 0:08:25.960 --> 0:08:28.240 and why I was hesitant to join into it. So 0:08:28.320 --> 0:08:32.000 bitcoin was We'll probably get into it later, but to 0:08:32.800 --> 0:08:37.559 talk about my experience now. Was popularized by a site 0:08:37.559 --> 0:08:41.640 called Silk Road, which was a deep web website where 0:08:41.640 --> 0:08:47.079 people were trading drugs, sex, sex, child pornography, just all 0:08:47.120 --> 0:08:50.560 types of legal guns. It was. It was basically a 0:08:50.559 --> 0:08:55.280 digital black market. Of course, what currency would you use 0:08:55.320 --> 0:08:59.880 in a digital black market? Then a untraceful encrypted currency 0:09:00.080 --> 0:09:02.280 like bitcoin. So that's where I heard been. I was like, 0:09:02.280 --> 0:09:06.240 why would I want this currency that is used for 0:09:06.280 --> 0:09:10.000 all this illegal stuff? You know and hinties free anyway? 0:09:11.520 --> 0:09:16.040 Is that why you're on silk Silk Road? Not think 0:09:16.080 --> 0:09:19.199 that I'm like Devian Arts, just like change your settings 0:09:19.200 --> 0:09:22.960 to eighteen plus the record show. I've never logged in 0:09:22.960 --> 0:09:25.800 to silk Road, So I would one go on silk 0:09:25.840 --> 0:09:28.480 Road just for drugs. I want to specify that I 0:09:28.559 --> 0:09:30.320 don't use it for the other show. I've never used 0:09:30.320 --> 0:09:34.120 it ever, but I listened to it. Listen, listen. No, 0:09:34.280 --> 0:09:37.280 I've listened to other podcasts on the House Stuff Works Network, 0:09:37.320 --> 0:09:40.080 and I think that um stuff you should know. They 0:09:40.160 --> 0:09:43.880 might have talked about it a little bit yeah so um. 0:09:43.920 --> 0:09:47.520 But the only anytime, like, oh, drugs, which I don't 0:09:47.520 --> 0:09:50.040 even do. I just do weed because I'm done. I 0:09:50.080 --> 0:09:54.200 do weed. Kids, Listen how I talk about you, But 0:09:54.400 --> 0:09:57.079 I do weed. But no, now that now that I'm 0:09:57.360 --> 0:10:01.040 divorced and I have been the last day, he may 0:10:01.040 --> 0:10:04.600 not know, but I've turned the upper lamp and shined 0:10:04.640 --> 0:10:08.000 it in Danny's face, and I've been splashing water on 0:10:08.040 --> 0:10:11.400 her face. That's why she's been stuttering so much. You 0:10:11.440 --> 0:10:15.959 won't break me. Um uh no, I was gonna say that. 0:10:16.520 --> 0:10:18.760 Now that I'm in my thirties, I'm like, oh, yeah, 0:10:18.760 --> 0:10:23.440 I should try drugs about I didn't do it. I 0:10:23.520 --> 0:10:26.240 was such a nerd in college. My roommates would make 0:10:26.280 --> 0:10:29.000 fun of me for studying so much because I had to. 0:10:29.320 --> 0:10:30.920 Like one of my roommates, I went to UT and 0:10:30.960 --> 0:10:33.120 that's actually a difficult school, Like they only took the 0:10:33.120 --> 0:10:35.400 top eight percent of their class to get the University 0:10:35.400 --> 0:10:37.520 of Texas and their business program is super hard. And 0:10:37.880 --> 0:10:40.080 my roommate would party all the time. I'm like, how 0:10:40.120 --> 0:10:42.680 do you go to school here? How do you go 0:10:42.760 --> 0:10:45.679 to school here? I was studying so much. I was 0:10:45.840 --> 0:10:49.480 completely afraid of marijuana because my dad said, and I 0:10:49.559 --> 0:10:53.840 quote the people that I knew back in Nigeria who 0:10:53.920 --> 0:10:59.480 smoked weed. I did not. That is unrelated, unrelated to 0:11:00.480 --> 0:11:03.000 you didn't tell me that they were in the army 0:11:03.000 --> 0:11:06.760 and died in the war because people I know Nia 0:11:07.559 --> 0:11:10.040 so passed from old age. So I waited till I 0:11:10.080 --> 0:11:12.200 was sixteen a smoke weed. I just want to say 0:11:12.200 --> 0:11:14.319 one word, tangent, is that so many of my friends 0:11:14.320 --> 0:11:17.280 and I that I've talked to, like millennials that don't 0:11:17.360 --> 0:11:22.400 do ecstasy is because one particular episode that I feel 0:11:22.440 --> 0:11:25.920 like everybody saw and everybody's parents saw, where somebody died 0:11:26.000 --> 0:11:28.120 from taking ecstasy is like one of the reasons why 0:11:28.120 --> 0:11:30.920 I still to this day of not taking X anyways. Yeah, 0:11:31.440 --> 0:11:34.560 also like that's the reason Electric Daisy Carnival isn't in 0:11:34.720 --> 0:11:37.960 l A anymore and I'm still mad about it. I 0:11:38.000 --> 0:11:41.680 don't do don't do drugs. Yeah, yeah, you know, I 0:11:41.679 --> 0:11:45.200 don't do them, But um, I might, you might. Yeah, 0:11:45.880 --> 0:11:48.240 like Dave Chappelle said, I might, I might bust amount 0:11:48.240 --> 0:11:51.480 when I'm Maybee. You know, got nothing to lose. What 0:11:51.679 --> 0:11:56.720 is bitcoin? Um? So basically uh so, no, A bitcoin 0:11:56.880 --> 0:12:00.800 became like this new global payment network like MasterCard or 0:12:00.840 --> 0:12:04.680 pay Pallett allows money to be transmitted electronically. But Bitcoin 0:12:04.800 --> 0:12:09.960 is different from these conventional payment networks in two important ways. Yeah. First, 0:12:10.040 --> 0:12:14.040 so bitcoin network is fully decentralized. So the MasterCard network 0:12:14.120 --> 0:12:17.080 is owned and operated by MasterCard, Inc. But there is 0:12:17.160 --> 0:12:20.800 no Bitcoin Inc. Instead, thousands of computers around the world 0:12:20.920 --> 0:12:24.640 process Bitcoin transactions in a peer to peer fashion, which 0:12:24.679 --> 0:12:29.200 is interesting because it's almost just like bit torrent. Oh 0:12:29.320 --> 0:12:35.040 does that make sense now, guys? If you just figured 0:12:35.080 --> 0:12:39.160 something out? Why? But yeah, it's if you're aware of 0:12:39.200 --> 0:12:44.080 how bittorrenting works. That's that's basically bitcoin. Can you explain 0:12:44.120 --> 0:12:49.360 Torrantine to people? Hell? Yeah, so our pirates pull up 0:12:49.360 --> 0:12:58.160 your boats and conting. Yeah, so before things like Spotify, 0:12:58.440 --> 0:13:02.280 I just got it because you're pie reading. Yeah, oh 0:13:02.320 --> 0:13:04.319 you just thought I was doing a fun pirate voice. 0:13:07.040 --> 0:13:09.120 How do we have our own show? I don't know. 0:13:09.240 --> 0:13:11.400 This is definitely the most off the Rails episode. But 0:13:11.440 --> 0:13:14.600 you know what, it's bitcoin. It should be because bitcoin 0:13:14.760 --> 0:13:19.559 is boring unless also it's just insane as as a product. 0:13:19.800 --> 0:13:24.680 But so, yeah, before we had Spotify, Apple Music and 0:13:24.720 --> 0:13:28.720 your Netflix and and movie Pass and Wild movie Pass 0:13:28.880 --> 0:13:31.760 was the short flash in the pan that movie pass 0:13:31.920 --> 0:13:35.800 was people felt the need to pirate movies. I've never 0:13:36.200 --> 0:13:39.480 pirate in a single thing. That's not true, you know, 0:13:39.559 --> 0:13:43.480 because you know it's not you know, because God's always watching. 0:13:43.920 --> 0:13:48.760 But certain scurvy dogs would go on the Internet and pirate. 0:13:48.800 --> 0:13:53.000 Now this I'm not talking about kaza or or Napster. 0:13:53.480 --> 0:13:56.319 Eventually there became a more secure way to torrent called 0:13:57.480 --> 0:14:02.640 uh torrenting or bit torrenting, where instead of you downloading 0:14:02.960 --> 0:14:06.160 the file from a network or a server, the file 0:14:06.280 --> 0:14:10.040 is broken up across a bunch of different computers which 0:14:10.040 --> 0:14:13.160 are now seating parts of the file, and your computer 0:14:13.640 --> 0:14:18.360 leaches the file with other leechers and they download as 0:14:18.400 --> 0:14:21.840 one complete file. And it also spreads the workload and 0:14:21.880 --> 0:14:26.520 also makes it harder to track. Until some buster gets 0:14:26.560 --> 0:14:28.800 busted than charters on your neck and they send you 0:14:28.840 --> 0:14:31.600 that weird letter in the mail that says, hey, please 0:14:31.600 --> 0:14:34.280 stop pirating or we'll cut off your internet. Can they 0:14:34.320 --> 0:14:36.800 literally do send you that, like they will send you 0:14:36.840 --> 0:14:38.880 a letter. I know people that have gotten it before. 0:14:39.440 --> 0:14:45.080 I think the my favorite pirating story was was the 0:14:45.600 --> 0:14:48.000 We're When I was working on a midnight a show 0:14:48.040 --> 0:14:50.560 that is about the Internet and needs the Internet. The 0:14:50.600 --> 0:14:55.280 Internet went out for a solid like thirty forty five minutes, Uh, 0:14:55.440 --> 0:14:58.160 just gone, and we were freaking out. And it turns 0:14:58.160 --> 0:15:03.880 out that one of the crew it was downloading a 0:15:03.960 --> 0:15:08.480 movie and so the the Internet company cut it off. 0:15:09.200 --> 0:15:11.920 And the movie they're downloading was a Man from Uncle. 0:15:12.280 --> 0:15:15.920 And that was the funniest part about It's like, really 0:15:15.960 --> 0:15:18.000 a man from Uncle, that's the one that you were 0:15:18.120 --> 0:15:22.080 about to get fired over. So yeah, we all they 0:15:22.080 --> 0:15:24.400 were so strict that you could not give the crew 0:15:26.280 --> 0:15:29.600 the Internet password. I think it was an inside job. 0:15:29.640 --> 0:15:31.280 I think the crew was getting blamed and it was 0:15:31.320 --> 0:15:36.800 like someone in HR going off a man from Uncle. Wow. Anyway, So, 0:15:36.880 --> 0:15:40.360 like Danny was saying, there is no single entity to 0:15:40.880 --> 0:15:44.200 kind of pool from. And also MasterCard and PayPal payments 0:15:44.240 --> 0:15:47.120 are based on conventional currency such as the US dollar. 0:15:47.440 --> 0:15:49.760 Bitcoin does not work like that. It has its own 0:15:49.840 --> 0:15:52.760 unit of value, which is called the bitcoin. The value 0:15:52.760 --> 0:15:55.680 of one bitcoin fluctuates as other currencies, in the same 0:15:55.680 --> 0:15:58.880 way the euro's value fluctuates against the dollar or the 0:15:59.000 --> 0:16:04.160 end to the dollar. Worthy. Uh the paso and you 0:16:04.240 --> 0:16:08.640 got you got your pound. Uh. But back back when 0:16:08.640 --> 0:16:11.840 this this kind of research article is written in November 0:16:11.920 --> 0:16:14.800 two thousand and fifteen, one bitcoin was worth about four 0:16:14.880 --> 0:16:18.640 hundred dollars and all bitcoins in existence were worth about 0:16:18.680 --> 0:16:22.160 six billions, I think, so yeah, so okay, So so 0:16:22.240 --> 0:16:24.880 one bitcoin is worth around four hundred and all bitcoins 0:16:24.880 --> 0:16:28.040 in existence are worth around okay, yeah, so because you 0:16:28.080 --> 0:16:31.120 can have a fraction of a bitcoin as well, So 0:16:31.160 --> 0:16:34.560 we'll get we'll get into that. So the skyrocketing value 0:16:34.640 --> 0:16:37.920 of bitcoins from thirteen dollars in January to more than 0:16:38.000 --> 0:16:41.720 one thousand in early December, that's a huge leap for 0:16:41.840 --> 0:16:43.440 I mean, if you want to do the leap. So 0:16:43.480 --> 0:16:46.160 they said in uh, November of two thousand and fifteen, 0:16:46.200 --> 0:16:50.120 one bitcoin was worth about four hundred dollars. Right now 0:16:50.320 --> 0:16:53.160 one bitcoin is six thousand, three hundred and twenty eight 0:16:53.160 --> 0:16:56.800 dollars and forty three cents, and that's during a drop. 0:16:57.160 --> 0:17:00.360 It is dropped, and that's where it's at. So that's 0:17:00.440 --> 0:17:03.440 what's interesting too, and why I kind of mentioned the 0:17:03.600 --> 0:17:06.000 when you jump in when you don't where it's like 0:17:06.359 --> 0:17:09.359 people who jumped in during the big boom a few 0:17:09.359 --> 0:17:11.480 months ago when all the news sites were going in. 0:17:11.520 --> 0:17:13.960 They might be hurting now. But if you jump came 0:17:14.000 --> 0:17:18.119 in up like this, you're still you're still on the 0:17:18.240 --> 0:17:21.120 come up. If you had bought one bitcoin for four 0:17:21.200 --> 0:17:25.639 hundred dollars, you're still looking sitting real pritty, which is 0:17:25.680 --> 0:17:31.040 why it's like yeah, yeah. So back in venture capitalists 0:17:31.040 --> 0:17:35.320 invested ninety five million in bitcoin based startups uh and 0:17:35.320 --> 0:17:39.600 then three seven million and more than four fifty million 0:17:39.760 --> 0:17:43.480 in But there hasn't been much signed that bitcoin is 0:17:43.520 --> 0:17:47.560 revolutionizing the financial industry the way optimists hoped it would. 0:17:48.119 --> 0:17:50.600 So the use of the Bitcoin network has grown kind 0:17:50.640 --> 0:17:53.760 of slowly. Almost seven years after the network was created, 0:17:53.760 --> 0:17:56.800 there still aren't any good examples of bitcoin applications that 0:17:56.840 --> 0:17:59.760 are accessible and useful to mainstream users. Well yeah, and 0:18:00.160 --> 0:18:05.040 it got like okay, I was circling the human to 0:18:05.240 --> 0:18:08.440 use shark terms, Me and my sharks be talking a 0:18:08.560 --> 0:18:10.520 circle in the human for a bit when it came 0:18:11.000 --> 0:18:16.000 came to this recent boom. And it's gotten more complicated 0:18:16.040 --> 0:18:20.040 to get into cryptocurrency because there because everyone, I think 0:18:20.160 --> 0:18:22.360 the way for a lot of people are the alt coins, 0:18:22.400 --> 0:18:25.640 because you know, people would rather like to have multiple 0:18:25.680 --> 0:18:28.440 coin than fractions of coins. Even though you can buy 0:18:28.440 --> 0:18:32.959 in a fraction you like, you would rather have one 0:18:34.040 --> 0:18:37.080 a fraction of a bitcoin, but to get to a 0:18:37.119 --> 0:18:38.919 lot of these alt coins you have to buy in 0:18:39.000 --> 0:18:41.879 at bitcoin anyway. Then you would have to transfer the 0:18:41.880 --> 0:18:44.320 bitcoin to ethereum. And in the end it feels like 0:18:44.359 --> 0:18:46.640 one big pyramid scheme to get the people who own 0:18:46.720 --> 0:18:49.240 these all coins so they can get more bitcoins. That's 0:18:49.240 --> 0:18:53.359 what it feels like. I'm sure somebody's like, no, yeah, 0:18:53.640 --> 0:18:55.000 you know what, it's kind of cool is I saw 0:18:55.160 --> 0:18:57.840 at a different like stores and stuff. I have seen 0:18:57.960 --> 0:19:01.040 bitcoin a t M s oh yeah, back before meltdown 0:19:01.080 --> 0:19:03.520 Comics before they closed had a big bitcoin a t 0:19:03.720 --> 0:19:07.520 M and they accepted bitcoin. And Heather and Campbell good 0:19:07.520 --> 0:19:09.680 friend who I think we've mentioned her on the pod before. 0:19:10.000 --> 0:19:12.720 She was when she would coach teams, she would accept 0:19:12.800 --> 0:19:16.320 bitcoin as well. Wow. Yeah. Heather and Campbell is a 0:19:16.600 --> 0:19:19.880 improv coach and also a writer for The Twilight Zone 0:19:20.080 --> 0:19:22.280 a new episode the new series with Jordan Peele. And 0:19:22.320 --> 0:19:24.239 she's written on a bunch of stuff. She's written on. 0:19:24.760 --> 0:19:28.919 You know what was that? Key and Peel? Right, No, no, 0:19:29.680 --> 0:19:31.840 she wrote on She's written on a lot of she's 0:19:31.840 --> 0:19:35.840 written on SML for sure, I know. And what was 0:19:35.880 --> 0:19:38.840 that The awesome crew she wrote on that show. Uh, 0:19:39.280 --> 0:19:42.439 probably her least favorite credit for someone to mention, but 0:19:42.520 --> 0:19:47.160 you know, oh and she was on whose lines in anyways? Anyway, 0:19:47.240 --> 0:19:51.240 So what is blockchain? Huh? Well what is blockchain? When 0:19:51.280 --> 0:19:55.000 you often hear bitcoin or any coin brob, you hear blockchain. Well, 0:19:55.119 --> 0:19:59.960 blockchain is an electronic database of transactions, and new deals 0:20:00.000 --> 0:20:02.679 are added to the chain and then stamped and protected 0:20:03.000 --> 0:20:06.560 with mathematical equation. That's why I'm like my hate math. 0:20:06.680 --> 0:20:09.040 I do hate math as well. Um. The database is 0:20:09.040 --> 0:20:12.520 shared among hundreds of other computers or nodes on the 0:20:12.520 --> 0:20:15.600 network to make it virtually impossible for one agent to 0:20:15.760 --> 0:20:19.239 change it. So these nodes use their computing power and 0:20:19.320 --> 0:20:23.480 compete to verify and decode the latest transaction. So this 0:20:23.560 --> 0:20:27.520 is the nerdiest that our podcast has gotten. This is 0:20:27.560 --> 0:20:30.520 then appended as a block to the chain. Its ability 0:20:30.600 --> 0:20:34.520 to offer a verifiable, immutable, and public record is what 0:20:34.560 --> 0:20:38.280 attracts many advocates. And so this is a quote from 0:20:38.440 --> 0:20:42.040 Jonathan Johnson, who is an executive at overstock dot com, 0:20:42.040 --> 0:20:45.600 which is an online retailer that accepts payment in virtual currencies. 0:20:45.640 --> 0:20:47.720 I've also used I think I bought a rug from them. 0:20:47.800 --> 0:20:50.159 He said, it can do for the nearly free and 0:20:50.280 --> 0:20:53.760 friction lists transfer of assets what the Internet did for 0:20:53.800 --> 0:20:58.159 the nearly free and friction list transfer of information. I 0:20:58.200 --> 0:21:00.680 still feel like they're acting like it's really simple and easy, 0:21:00.720 --> 0:21:03.640 and I don't think it's as simple and easy as there, 0:21:04.280 --> 0:21:05.680 you know what I mean, Like, I think that there's 0:21:05.680 --> 0:21:11.680 still a lot of shadiness to it at times, Like 0:21:11.720 --> 0:21:14.800 like you said, iffy um, So how is it being used? 0:21:14.880 --> 0:21:17.760 Its chief use is as a system behind most of 0:21:17.800 --> 0:21:22.879 the hundreds upon hundreds of virtual coins that are being created, stored, 0:21:22.920 --> 0:21:26.359 and traded online, of which bitcoin is the best known, 0:21:26.400 --> 0:21:31.080 but it's not the only cryptocurrency. Estonia uses distributed ledgers 0:21:31.160 --> 0:21:34.200 for the public to follow court, legal and democratic procedures. 0:21:34.800 --> 0:21:36.600 That makes sense, Like there has to be as much 0:21:36.600 --> 0:21:40.560 as it's like, it's not untraceable. Yeah, there is some 0:21:40.600 --> 0:21:44.520 way to trace it. Yeah, I'd say there's there's some 0:21:44.600 --> 0:21:50.960 way to trace it kind of yeah, exactly. M Yeah. 0:21:51.480 --> 0:21:53.880 And then what's interesting is like the fact that some 0:21:53.920 --> 0:21:57.800 countries like Russia and China are interested in creating their 0:21:57.840 --> 0:22:01.719 own virtual currencies. The reason that's interesting is because China 0:22:01.840 --> 0:22:06.919 recently band bitcoin, and it would be very interesting to 0:22:06.960 --> 0:22:09.520 see if within the next few months they launched their 0:22:09.520 --> 0:22:15.359 own coin, because that would be kind of a power 0:22:17.280 --> 0:22:21.800 monopolistic thing to do. But also it is China. It's 0:22:21.840 --> 0:22:24.480 like Disney pulling out of a Netflix, like no, we're good, 0:22:24.720 --> 0:22:31.200 We're good. Mapp Oh my gosh. It's just the more 0:22:31.240 --> 0:22:36.600 people split buckle up for another tan, the more people 0:22:36.720 --> 0:22:41.600 split from a United streaming platform, the more it just 0:22:41.680 --> 0:22:46.320 becomes like regular TV. Yeah, but the United streaming platform 0:22:46.480 --> 0:22:50.320 could monopolize in certain ways. And anyways, I love Netflix 0:22:50.320 --> 0:22:52.080 and Disney. I love you guys so much. I hope 0:22:52.119 --> 0:22:53.920 you're listening and I have meetings with you. I love 0:22:53.960 --> 0:22:57.480 you very much. So financial markets are among the most 0:22:57.760 --> 0:23:02.679 enthusiastic adopters. So equity into companies building the blockchain technology 0:23:02.800 --> 0:23:07.199 hit one billion last year across two fifteen deals, according 0:23:07.280 --> 0:23:10.320 to data from CB Insights, which is a research group. Yeah, 0:23:10.640 --> 0:23:13.919 even the bank back our three consortium has raised more 0:23:13.960 --> 0:23:18.080 than a hundred million. Credit Agricole, the French lender, took 0:23:18.119 --> 0:23:22.880 a small equity stake and Settle the UK blockchain technology developer. 0:23:23.680 --> 0:23:27.280 Many institutions hope that a real time ledger could automate there. 0:23:27.680 --> 0:23:32.240 They're kind of expensive back office system and save them millions. Yeah, 0:23:32.280 --> 0:23:36.600 but how are people using bitcoin and how can you 0:23:36.720 --> 0:23:40.359 use it? We're going to get into that right after 0:23:40.400 --> 0:23:51.760 this break and we are back. So one of the 0:23:51.840 --> 0:23:54.639 things when you're using bitcoin is you have to have 0:23:54.760 --> 0:24:00.960 a bitcoin wallet. Yeah, yeah, that's I have the empty bitcorn. 0:24:01.560 --> 0:24:06.359