Topic: John Oliver - carving the old wounds of Crypto - Calls it Fiasco! (Read 118 times)
I think it's a bit of a stretch to blame the entire cryptocurrency market for the failures of a few companies. There are plenty of successful and legitimate cryptocurrencies out there that are worth investing in. Let's not throw the baby out with the bathwater just because of a few bad apples.
April 26, 2023, 11:40:26 PM
John Oliver needs to come and learn Elon Musk with the crypto market.
Some people fail and lose, some are optimistic and happy. Isn't that part of the operation and development of the economic market in general and crypto in particular.
I find blaming without admitting mistakes from yourself is more laughable than all past mistakes, sometimes some people achieve quite a lot of personal success compared to the majority and they persist to come. that whatever they think it will be, it will be. Truth can't kill and those who like to be smart with a pool they're drowning in will all end up together.
Some people fail and lose, some are optimistic and happy. Isn't that part of the operation and development of the economic market in general and crypto in particular.
I find blaming without admitting mistakes from yourself is more laughable than all past mistakes, sometimes some people achieve quite a lot of personal success compared to the majority and they persist to come. that whatever they think it will be, it will be. Truth can't kill and those who like to be smart with a pool they're drowning in will all end up together.
April 26, 2023, 08:03:56 PM
The FTX/Terra fiasco are merely distractions and don't actually speak to the fundamental core of Bitcoin. If John Oliver were serious about crypto, he may have bothered to do some actual research as to why FTX/Terra collapsed because they don't actually reflect poorly on decentralization at all.
Bitcoin seems to be the "sloping wall" for a lot of these projects, it's a hot topic, they can talk about it freely without someone suing them or talking in a certain pattern and it gets a lot of views.
Anyone who knows Bitcoin in the FTX/Terra domain and hosts these two topics is someone who has little background in Bitcoin and does not want to spend time learning and therefore watching his videos will be a waste of time.
April 26, 2023, 07:06:28 PM
The expected failures of those Ponzi Schemes do not represent crypto, just like the failures of the biggest fiat Ponzi Schemes in history before crypto do not represent the banking system.
List, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Ponzi_schemes
Except Ponzi schemes are like a tiny percentage of global economic activity, while with crypto most of the altcoins are very similar to ponzis - they are created just to make investors buy them, the devs don't plan to make them usable in real world. And companies like FTX or Celsius were very high profile - in your analogy it would be like IBM or NVIDIA turning out to be a Ponzi scheme.
Bitcoin is obviously not a scam, but Bitcoin represents less than 50% of the total crypto market cap. It's clear that crypto ecosystem is very sick, and there's is no end in sight to all these scams.
April 26, 2023, 02:55:47 AM
Let's not forget that John Oliver are a comedian and a actor.... so their main goal is to find content that are controversial. Bitcoin and Crypto currencies are one of those topics that can be exploited to push a lot of buttons and get the most reaction from viewers.
These people thrive when they can pick people and technologies apart for their own gain. So yes, Bitcoin and Crypto currencies are a easy target for them and there are a lot of scams and shitcoins that are giving them a lot of content.
These people thrive when they can pick people and technologies apart for their own gain. So yes, Bitcoin and Crypto currencies are a easy target for them and there are a lot of scams and shitcoins that are giving them a lot of content.
then why are we posting on the topic like we should take him serously? The topic should be locked in my opinion, or moved somewhere. He's neither an economist nor a scholar with a background in finance. I should have done a little research about him.He might merely be a politico-economic propagandist for-hire trying to influence you/spreading FUD, but without looking like he's trying to spread FUD.
April 26, 2023, 02:39:22 AM
This was John Oliver's analysis about the crypto timeline that was crooked and are the burn marks that may not heal real soon.
What do you think about the rage of Oliver? Have you felt the same way and do you think it's recoverable in the upcoming timeline?
Yes, it's just normal in my opinion but it's understandable that John Oliver's recent comments on cryptocurrencies might make some crypto enthusiasts feel frustrated or angry. One important thing to consider is that the criticism may have some valid points such as the Terra Fall, Celsius, and FTX collapse Incidents and it is indeed troubling and reflects the potential dangers and risks of investing in crypto. While it is true that crypto has the potential to revolutionize the financial industry, it is also important to be aware of the risks and acknowledge the challenges and limitations.
Let's not forget that John Oliver are a comedian and a actor.... so their main goal is to find content that are controversial. Bitcoin and Crypto currencies are one of those topics that can be exploited to push a lot of buttons and get the most reaction from viewers.
These people thrive when they can pick people and technologies apart for their own gain. So yes, Bitcoin and Crypto currencies are a easy target for them and there are a lot of scams and shitcoins that are giving them a lot of content.
These people thrive when they can pick people and technologies apart for their own gain. So yes, Bitcoin and Crypto currencies are a easy target for them and there are a lot of scams and shitcoins that are giving them a lot of content.
Well, you're not wrong! John Oliver is definitely a master of finding controversial topics to talk about, and Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies have certainly been a hot button issue for a while now. So while we should take everything he says with a grain of salt and do our own research, it doesn't hurt to have a little bit of humor thrown in along the way
. April 26, 2023, 01:01:12 AM
Let's not forget that John Oliver are a comedian and a actor.... so their main goal is to find content that are controversial. Bitcoin and Crypto currencies are one of those topics that can be exploited to push a lot of buttons and get the most reaction from viewers.
These people thrive when they can pick people and technologies apart for their own gain. So yes, Bitcoin and Crypto currencies are a easy target for them and there are a lot of scams and shitcoins that are giving them a lot of content.
These people thrive when they can pick people and technologies apart for their own gain. So yes, Bitcoin and Crypto currencies are a easy target for them and there are a lot of scams and shitcoins that are giving them a lot of content.
April 26, 2023, 12:31:28 AM
Quote
Oliver has given three worst failures of the crypto time which include: 1) Terra Fall, 2) Celsius, and 3) FTX collapse.
The expected failures of those Ponzi Schemes do not represent crypto, just like the failures of the biggest fiat Ponzi Schemes in history before crypto do not represent the banking system.
List, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Ponzi_schemes
April 25, 2023, 10:27:09 PM
...
He's a left wing political commentator/grifter. No one bothers watching his shows anymore so he tries to be edgy and opine on matters he knows nothing about. If Bitcoin's a casino to him, I imagine he feels the same way about any other market, like stocks or real estate? I'm sure he hasn't done segments on either of these markets and he probably puts funds in both.
The FTX/Terra fiasco are merely distractions and don't actually speak to the fundamental core of Bitcoin. If John Oliver were serious about crypto, he may have bothered to do some actual research as to why FTX/Terra collapsed because they don't actually reflect poorly on decentralization at all.
April 25, 2023, 09:36:52 PM
That guy is smart, he only pointed out the tragedies that happened in crypto world and forgot about the things that are happening in current banking system. If Celsius failure was a shock to many people and I believe that many people have lost their savings with that bank, but what about Silvergate Bank as that one was also bankrupted recently in March and same happened with many people who have saved their life saving in that bank.
If he is discussing the things that went wrong in crypto world then he should also at least give some explanations regarding current banking collapses. I'm sure that he won't be able to give a proper answer because his main target is crypto, and that's why he's getting the attention from media. No central authority would ever want the crypto to exist and that's a harsh truth, so just let them say whatever they want to say.
If he is discussing the things that went wrong in crypto world then he should also at least give some explanations regarding current banking collapses. I'm sure that he won't be able to give a proper answer because his main target is crypto, and that's why he's getting the attention from media. No central authority would ever want the crypto to exist and that's a harsh truth, so just let them say whatever they want to say.
April 25, 2023, 07:54:15 PM
It's the first time I've heard of John Oliver, but do things like this that we all know need all these lines, man?
Every once in a while, someone appears to us claiming to be an analyst or expert in the markets, and he is nothing but a new version of John McAfee.
markets go through four states: shock, acceptance, growth, and recovery.
Every once in a while, someone appears to us claiming to be an analyst or expert in the markets, and he is nothing but a new version of John McAfee.
markets go through four states: shock, acceptance, growth, and recovery.
- Last year, the shock was when prices collapsed sharply from $60,000 to $17,000
- Then, the acceptance phase began, as the price settled at the bottom.
- We are now in the growth phase, where the price will return to $30,000, and then recovery.
April 25, 2023, 05:34:45 AM
Yet another ignorant guy blaming Bitcoin/crypto because of the failure of a bunch of shady centralized crypto scams.
When a US bank is scamming people and it goes bankrupt, does anyone start blaming the US dollar? Nope, but they keep blaming Bitcoin/altcoins for some shady crypto companies stealing the investor's money and exit scamming. We can't fight against ignorance and stupidity. OK, John Oliver is famous. And so what? Many famous people have expressed dumb and ignorant opinions about crypto in the past.
Who cares about this nonsense at this point?
When a US bank is scamming people and it goes bankrupt, does anyone start blaming the US dollar? Nope, but they keep blaming Bitcoin/altcoins for some shady crypto companies stealing the investor's money and exit scamming. We can't fight against ignorance and stupidity. OK, John Oliver is famous. And so what? Many famous people have expressed dumb and ignorant opinions about crypto in the past.
Who cares about this nonsense at this point?
April 25, 2023, 03:15:37 AM
What do you think about the rage of Oliver? Have you felt the same way and do you think it's recoverable in the upcoming timeline?
Well ... "Bitcoin has died 473 times" according to this counter. So what are we talking about? crypto is already dead no one is left here ... or maybe its another FUD article from pseudo experts?
UST collapse - $18B
Terra marketcap - $40B (mostly fake)
Celsius - $25B
FTX - $8B
Together $91B from $3T so its 3% AT BEST. Yea. crypto will never recover after this "huge" loss. It is definitely better to keep Fiats, which in 2021 increased supply by 20% y/y just to save the collapsing system. it is better to invest in banks, as exemplified by SVB, SB, CS, SI, FRC, whose capitalization fell by over 90% in a few days...
if Mr. John Oliver would make some effort, he would know that crypto did not come out of such drops to new ATH and not from such problems (MT GOX as an example)
April 24, 2023, 12:14:04 PM
The market cap fell from $3 trillion to $1 trillion. This happened over a period of eight months. Unfortunately most devastating incidence of all time. I am definitely sure John Oliver hates crypto as much as we love crypto and there are some true stories that can make users hate crypto in all senses. I read the article but I was not sure if John Oliver reacted honestly about it or not.
Oliver has given three worst failures of the crypto time which include: 1) Terra Fall, 2) Celsius, and 3) FTX collapse.
As we know that Terra was a cryptocurrency and meant to be a stable asset, failed to be even slightly stable and far away from the reality of becoming a true dollar. The founder of Terra incorporated Luna as the backing cryptocurrency to Terra's powerhouse which was converted to it with some sort of algorithm. Now whether that was reality or not is just a myth and no one would ever know about it anyways. Oliver calls it stupid and confusing corporate control.
The next corporate failure was done by Celsius, a crypto bank that was supposed to be the most secure bank of all and the easiest way to avail the international transfers. The failure reason: unsecured loans, unplanned loans, and most dangerous, the founder used people's money to pay back the high-yield schemes. In the end, he obviously got tangled up with too many repayments above the gross income. Preferably it was the worst bank to put your money into. Celsius still owes more than $4.7 billion.
On the other hand, the last was the FTX collapse which was done by the owner himself by introducing his own currency and injecting the virtual loop money into the system. It was like, there was money but there was no money. Bankman actually pitched for a strict policy for crypto so that it can be regulated properly. However, he was a failure himself without a second thought.
This was John Oliver's analysis about the crypto timeline that was crooked and are the burn marks that may not heal real soon.
What do you think about the rage of Oliver? Have you felt the same way and do you think it's recoverable in the upcoming timeline?
John Oliver on cryptocurrencies: ‘This is all still a casino’
Oliver has given three worst failures of the crypto time which include: 1) Terra Fall, 2) Celsius, and 3) FTX collapse.
As we know that Terra was a cryptocurrency and meant to be a stable asset, failed to be even slightly stable and far away from the reality of becoming a true dollar. The founder of Terra incorporated Luna as the backing cryptocurrency to Terra's powerhouse which was converted to it with some sort of algorithm. Now whether that was reality or not is just a myth and no one would ever know about it anyways. Oliver calls it stupid and confusing corporate control.
The next corporate failure was done by Celsius, a crypto bank that was supposed to be the most secure bank of all and the easiest way to avail the international transfers. The failure reason: unsecured loans, unplanned loans, and most dangerous, the founder used people's money to pay back the high-yield schemes. In the end, he obviously got tangled up with too many repayments above the gross income. Preferably it was the worst bank to put your money into. Celsius still owes more than $4.7 billion.
On the other hand, the last was the FTX collapse which was done by the owner himself by introducing his own currency and injecting the virtual loop money into the system. It was like, there was money but there was no money. Bankman actually pitched for a strict policy for crypto so that it can be regulated properly. However, he was a failure himself without a second thought.
This was John Oliver's analysis about the crypto timeline that was crooked and are the burn marks that may not heal real soon.
What do you think about the rage of Oliver? Have you felt the same way and do you think it's recoverable in the upcoming timeline?
Quote
Five years after he first dissected cryptocurrencies on Last Week Tonight, John Oliver took another look at the sector on Sunday’s episode, after a series of high-profile and expensive busts. The most dramatic implosion was that of FTX, a cryptocurrency exchange hyped by celebrities such as Steph Curry and “pre-divorce but post-love” Tom Brady and Gisele Bündchen, which collapsed at the end of 2022 to the tune of billions of dollars.
The arrest of FTX’s billionaire founder, Sam Bankman-Fried, on charges of defrauding investors, was “a big deal”, said Oliver, though it’s just “one of the many dominoes that fell in the crypto world”. From late 2021 until June 2022, the total market value of all cryptocurrencies fell from about $3tn to $1tn .
“And there are small investors who got badly hurt by all of this,” Oliver continued, as one in five Americans has invested in, traded, or used cryptocurrency, and plenty have had their savings wiped out in various meltdowns.
Oliver looked at the collapse of three companies, each “founded on the promise that they would replace some part of our financial system”. There was Terra, a cryptocurrency; Celsius, a crypto bank; and FTX, a crypto-trading platform. “In theory, they were supposed to be our next dollar, our next Bank of America, and our next stock exchange,” said Oliver. “But in reality, they are fiascos.”
To start, Oliver offered a reminder that “every single crypto coin is just something that someone with a laptop made up”. The coins have value to the extent that people believe they have value, which often comes down to one’s confidence in the person or group who made the coin. The story for all three companies was “one of confidence gained and then squandered”.
He started with Terra, launched in 2018 by South Korean entrepreneur Do Kwan as a supposedly stable cryptocurrency – one unit of Terra was alleged to always equal one US dollar, guaranteed by another cryptocurrency called Luna, also made up by Terra and converted using the company’s “special algorithm”.
“If that sounds both complicated and stupid to you, it is,” said Oliver. “Imagine if someone came up to you when you’re at the ATM and said ‘give me that money, and instead, I’ll give you blorps. One blorp is always worth $1, and the reason I can guarantee that is I’ll sell as many fleasles as it takes to make that happen. Also, I make the fleasles.’” Most people would say no, “but if they then said ‘I do it with a special algorithm,’ suddenly you might think that they know something that you don’t. Well, that’s basically what happened here.”
Kwon’s confidence game worked for a while – he shouted down skeptics (“I don’t debate the poor on Twitter,” he tweeted about one detractor) as Luna’s value ballooned to $40bn. But several big trades in 2022 destabilized the price, as people rushed to sell Terra and Luna valued at essentially zero. After months on the run, Kwon was arrested last month in Montenegro on fraud charges in several countries.
Celsius, a crypto bank, was founded by Alex Mashinsky, who went out of his way to build trust in Celsius as a crypto bank friendlier to customers than traditional ones. As he insisted: “We are probably one of the least risky businesses that regulators worldwide have ever seen.”
“Which was just flagrantly untrue,” said Oliver. Investigators found that Mashinsky was making incredibly risky loans and using customer funds to pay the promised high yields, “which sure sounds like the textbook definition of a Ponzi scheme”.
Mashinky and Celsius haven’t been charged with a crime, but because the company’s terms of use stated that customers transferred all rights of ownership over assets deposited in a Celsius account, tens of thousands of customers still have digital assets trapped on the platform; the company owes customers $4.7bn .
So, in summary, “bullshit money and bullshit banks” with Sam Bankman-Fried and FTX rounding things out as a “bullshit trading platform”. Bankman-Fried cultivated a persona as a “shy, self-effacing genius,” said Oliver. “It’s why he dressed like every day was laundry day and combed his hair with a balloon.”
Bankman-Fried, who lobbied Congress for tighter regulation of the crypto market, pitched FTX as a stable platform akin to the new stock exchange, but in reality propped up the company with a currency he made up, tied to his hedge fund filled with the same coin.
As the new CEO brought in during the company’s bankruptcy put it: “Never in my career have I seen such a complete failure of corporate controls and such a complete absence of trustworthy financial information as occurred here” – “which is really saying something, given that his career includes overseeing the bankruptcy of Enron,” said Oliver.
The throughline with all three companies is “confidently projecting a veneer of expertise even as, beneath the surface, they were a complete shitshow,” said Oliver.
“The thing is, there are still companies out there making all the same claims that you’ve seen tonight,” he added. “And I’m not saying that they’re all scams. Maybe these three are the exceptions,” though he could cite many other exceptions. “But the truth is, in a financial system where the only real currency is confidence, scammers are going to thrive.”
Oliver wasn’t even sure about advocating for more regulation, as doing so would legitimize volatile, risky companies, nor would he fully disavow cryptocurrencies. “But we should recognize that right now, the main thing you can really do with crypto is gamble with more crypto,” he concluded. “This is all still a casino.”
The arrest of FTX’s billionaire founder, Sam Bankman-Fried, on charges of defrauding investors, was “a big deal”, said Oliver, though it’s just “one of the many dominoes that fell in the crypto world”. From late 2021 until June 2022, the total market value of all cryptocurrencies fell from about $3tn to $1tn .
“And there are small investors who got badly hurt by all of this,” Oliver continued, as one in five Americans has invested in, traded, or used cryptocurrency, and plenty have had their savings wiped out in various meltdowns.
Oliver looked at the collapse of three companies, each “founded on the promise that they would replace some part of our financial system”. There was Terra, a cryptocurrency; Celsius, a crypto bank; and FTX, a crypto-trading platform. “In theory, they were supposed to be our next dollar, our next Bank of America, and our next stock exchange,” said Oliver. “But in reality, they are fiascos.”
To start, Oliver offered a reminder that “every single crypto coin is just something that someone with a laptop made up”. The coins have value to the extent that people believe they have value, which often comes down to one’s confidence in the person or group who made the coin. The story for all three companies was “one of confidence gained and then squandered”.
He started with Terra, launched in 2018 by South Korean entrepreneur Do Kwan as a supposedly stable cryptocurrency – one unit of Terra was alleged to always equal one US dollar, guaranteed by another cryptocurrency called Luna, also made up by Terra and converted using the company’s “special algorithm”.
“If that sounds both complicated and stupid to you, it is,” said Oliver. “Imagine if someone came up to you when you’re at the ATM and said ‘give me that money, and instead, I’ll give you blorps. One blorp is always worth $1, and the reason I can guarantee that is I’ll sell as many fleasles as it takes to make that happen. Also, I make the fleasles.’” Most people would say no, “but if they then said ‘I do it with a special algorithm,’ suddenly you might think that they know something that you don’t. Well, that’s basically what happened here.”
Kwon’s confidence game worked for a while – he shouted down skeptics (“I don’t debate the poor on Twitter,” he tweeted about one detractor) as Luna’s value ballooned to $40bn. But several big trades in 2022 destabilized the price, as people rushed to sell Terra and Luna valued at essentially zero. After months on the run, Kwon was arrested last month in Montenegro on fraud charges in several countries.
Celsius, a crypto bank, was founded by Alex Mashinsky, who went out of his way to build trust in Celsius as a crypto bank friendlier to customers than traditional ones. As he insisted: “We are probably one of the least risky businesses that regulators worldwide have ever seen.”
“Which was just flagrantly untrue,” said Oliver. Investigators found that Mashinsky was making incredibly risky loans and using customer funds to pay the promised high yields, “which sure sounds like the textbook definition of a Ponzi scheme”.
Mashinky and Celsius haven’t been charged with a crime, but because the company’s terms of use stated that customers transferred all rights of ownership over assets deposited in a Celsius account, tens of thousands of customers still have digital assets trapped on the platform; the company owes customers $4.7bn .
So, in summary, “bullshit money and bullshit banks” with Sam Bankman-Fried and FTX rounding things out as a “bullshit trading platform”. Bankman-Fried cultivated a persona as a “shy, self-effacing genius,” said Oliver. “It’s why he dressed like every day was laundry day and combed his hair with a balloon.”
Bankman-Fried, who lobbied Congress for tighter regulation of the crypto market, pitched FTX as a stable platform akin to the new stock exchange, but in reality propped up the company with a currency he made up, tied to his hedge fund filled with the same coin.
As the new CEO brought in during the company’s bankruptcy put it: “Never in my career have I seen such a complete failure of corporate controls and such a complete absence of trustworthy financial information as occurred here” – “which is really saying something, given that his career includes overseeing the bankruptcy of Enron,” said Oliver.
The throughline with all three companies is “confidently projecting a veneer of expertise even as, beneath the surface, they were a complete shitshow,” said Oliver.
“The thing is, there are still companies out there making all the same claims that you’ve seen tonight,” he added. “And I’m not saying that they’re all scams. Maybe these three are the exceptions,” though he could cite many other exceptions. “But the truth is, in a financial system where the only real currency is confidence, scammers are going to thrive.”
Oliver wasn’t even sure about advocating for more regulation, as doing so would legitimize volatile, risky companies, nor would he fully disavow cryptocurrencies. “But we should recognize that right now, the main thing you can really do with crypto is gamble with more crypto,” he concluded. “This is all still a casino.”
John Oliver on cryptocurrencies: ‘This is all still a casino’
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