The Daily Show seriously tries to explain bitcoin and other 'stupid meme currencies'


Bitcoin's heady rise into the financial ether hit some turbulence this week, as the world's largest cryptocurrency dropped 30 percent in five days, from nearly $20,000 a coin to about $13,000 on Friday. If the mention of blockchains and cryptocurrencies makes your eyes glaze over, The Daily Show's Ronny Chieng might have the explainer for you, starting with the big question: "Is this some fake s--t that some f---ing nerds made up on the internet to steal our money, or is it the future of finance?" The answer might be: both.
Chieng interviewed the co-founders of two cryptocurrencies, Ethereum — No. 2, behind bitcoin — and Dogecoin, a "stupid meme currency" that is nevertheless "worth almost $400 million," he noted. But first he took a bubble bath. "Does cryptocurrency make you feel angry and confused? Well it should," Chieng said, necking champagne in a bathtub overlooking Manhattan, like in The Big Short. Cryptocurrencies, he explained, are a way to conduct financial transactions online without a middleman like PayPal taking a cut, and minimizing the risk of theft by recording each transaction in a public ledger called a blockchain.
But in the end, a cryptocurrency like Ethereum is "based on faith" in its blockchain, Ethereum's Joe Lubin explained. "When you get enough people believing in cryptocurrency, then you can snowball into something that a society actually deems valuable, like the U.S. dollar." Chieng decided that if money isn't real, he might as well make his own cryptocurrency, ChiengCoin. That took all of 10 minutes, but he highlighted the faith problem when he tried to use it. Watch and (maybe) learn below. Peter Weber
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.
-
September 1 editorial cartoons
Cartoons Monday’s political cartoons include Labor Day picnic, branding strategy, and more
-
What is Tony Blair's plan for Gaza?
Today's Big Question Former PM has reportedly been putting together a post-war strategy 'for the past several months'
-
When does autumn begin?
The Explainer The UK is experiencing a 'false autumn', as climate change shifts seasonal weather patterns
-
New York court tosses Trump's $500M fraud fine
Speed Read A divided appeals court threw out a hefty penalty against President Trump for fraudulently inflating his wealth
-
Trump said to seek government stake in Intel
Speed Read The president and Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan reportedly discussed the proposal at a recent meeting
-
US to take 15% cut of AI chip sales to China
Speed Read Nvidia and AMD will pay the Trump administration 15% of their revenue from selling artificial intelligence chips to China
-
NFL gets ESPN stake in deal with Disney
Speed Read The deal gives the NFL a 10% stake in Disney's ESPN sports empire and gives ESPN ownership of NFL Network
-
Samsung to make Tesla chips in $16.5B deal
Speed Read Tesla has signed a deal to get its next-generation chips from Samsung
-
FCC greenlights $8B Paramount-Skydance merger
Speed Read The Federal Communications Commission will allow Paramount to merge with the Hollywood studio Skydance
-
Tesla reports plummeting profits
Speed Read The company may soon face more problems with the expiration of federal electric vehicle tax credits
-
Dollar faces historic slump as stocks hit new high
Speed Read While stocks have recovered post-Trump tariffs, the dollar has weakened more than 10% this year