Popular American comedian and political commentator Hasan Minhaj, who recently
Popular American comedian and political commentator Hasan Minhaj, who recently launched his own talk show on Netflix called Patriot Act, has ridiculed bitcoin as an investment on the latest episode of his show.
The fourth episode of the show called ‘Oil’, which sees Minhaj discussing America’s obsession with oil has a snippet, where Minhaj criticised the idea of investing in bitcoin and called it a ‘garbage investment’. In the context of bitcoin’s value doubling quickly, he says:
“Just kidding. That was a garbage investment and you are an idiot. Bitcoin is just Beanie Babies for tech bros.”
Source: Netflix
For those who do not understand the beanie baby analogy, let me break it down for you. It’s a long used analogy that has probably served well and is now fading out, after John Oliver, the famous American late night talk show host, used it to simplify bitcoin to his audience back in March of this year.
So what’s it about? Roughly in the 1990s, there was a beanie baby buying craze in America. Oliver used that example to compare bitcoin’s volatile (Read: Why does Bitcoin’s price move so much?) price to a $15,000 beanie baby, the expensive toys that drove Americans into a consumerist frenzy back in the day, for no specific reason. Now we must note here that this is a gross devaluation of bitcoin’s worth, which is far more significant than some fad that didn’t last longer than a decade.
Bitcoin actually can revolutionize the entire system of currency as we know it and offer a whole new technology in the market. It has the ability to disrupt prominent scetors and push the world towards a more transparent and decentralized governance.
Minhaj further goes on to say,
Every person I went to high school with was like “Look man, bitcoin is going to change your life. BTC. Get on it right now.” And I was like “Tommy Wilson, you work at Office Max. What the f##k are you talking about?”
While this drew some loud laughs from the audience, it prompts you to think whether or not he has a point. The craze of bitcoin is so widespread, that people who have the least knowledge of the digital currency can also be seen endorsing it.
This raises the question, is there need for greater awareness among the common people regarding this innovation? Well definetely, there is. Myths concerning the ability of bitcoin to turn you into an overnight billionaire should be dispelled and everyone should be encouraged to make an informed investment.
No matter how many times bitcoin is reduced to a fad in popular culture, it might just be here for the long haul. We’ll have to wait and see.