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Welcome to "Last Week Tonight" !
I'm John Oliver.
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Thank you so much for joining us.
It has been a busy week:
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Fox agreeing to pay nearly
$800 million for broadcasting lies,
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00:00:39,439 --> 00:00:43,315
U.K.'s deputy prime minister resigning
due to a bullying investigation.
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00:00:43,399 --> 00:00:45,355
But we're gonna start
in the Tennessee House,
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where Republicans recently voted
to expel two Democratic lawmakers
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for violating House rules
in protesting against gun violence.
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One of the Republicans
who voted to expel them was this man,
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00:00:55,159 --> 00:00:58,796
Scotty Campbell, who himself
abruptly resigned on Thursday.
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00:00:58,880 --> 00:01:01,756
And I could tell you why he did that.
But I'd rather let you watch
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as he sees his political career
evaporate before his eyes.
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{\an8}As I understand, you admitted
to sexually harassing this intern ?
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{\an8}- Give me just five seconds.
- Okay.
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{\an8}Scotty Campbell knew we were
investigating some serious allegations.
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{\an8}One second.
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{\an8}About his relationship
with at least one legislative intern,
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{\an8}although he would soon divulge
there was a second intern.
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{\an8}- Which direction do I need to look ?
- Just look at me.
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I've seen a lot of politicians
get caught out on this show.
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Some get angry, some run away.
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But in ten seasons, I've never seen
someone so thoroughly fucked
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00:01:42,560 --> 00:01:45,836
that their only response is "Give me
five seconds to quickly chug this",
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00:01:45,920 --> 00:01:49,155
followed by "Okay, where should
I look while my career ends ?"
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Kudos to everyone
involved there.
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A House ethics subcommittee
found last month that Campbell
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had violated the policy on workplace
discrimination and harassment.
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There are allegations that he'd
sexually harassed at least one intern,
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00:02:01,079 --> 00:02:04,429
reportedly making her "progressively
more afraid and uncomfortable",
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through actions like, at one point,
offering to give her cannabis gummies
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00:02:07,599 --> 00:02:09,756
to see her tattoos and piercings.
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The subcommittee
issued their findings last month,
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but nothing happened until reporters
started asking questions.
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And while Campbell
denies the allegations,
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it's not great that he doesn't seem to
comprehend some pretty basic things.
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So, are you saying the ethics
subcommittee is lying ?
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{\an8}I'm saying that I did not know
that a workplace policy
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{\an8}could be enforced
when you're not at work.
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What are you talking about, Scotty ?
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I'm not sure saying "Whatever I did,
I wasn't at work when I did it !"
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is quite the ironclad defense
he seems to think it is.
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If your office had a sign
in the kitchen that said,
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"Please do not fuck
the Keurig machine",
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and you responded by taking it outside
the building and fucking it there,
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I think you're still
probably getting into trouble.
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I could talk all night about this story
but for now, let's turn to beer.
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Drinkable bread
that makes talking less scary.
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Specifically, Bud Light.
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00:03:01,199 --> 00:03:04,049
The beer you'd give a child to drink
to teach it a lesson.
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00:03:04,960 --> 00:03:08,555
A few weeks ago, Bud Light partnered
with influencer Dylan Mulvaney
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00:03:08,639 --> 00:03:11,689
for the sort of Instagram promotion
that you see all the time.
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00:03:11,919 --> 00:03:14,955
Check out my Instagram story to see
how you can enjoy March Madness
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00:03:15,039 --> 00:03:17,599
with Bud Light and
maybe win some money, too !
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00:03:18,719 --> 00:03:21,716
Okay. Seems basically
as inoffensive as an ad can be
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00:03:21,800 --> 00:03:24,355
when it is promoting Bud Light,
a beer that asks the question,
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"Are we allowed
to call cat urine beer ?"
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"Because if not,
this factory tour is over."
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But people on the right
absolutely lost their shit over this
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because Bud Light
partnered with a trans woman.
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00:03:36,039 --> 00:03:37,739
There have been calls
for boycotts,
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and this incredibly stupid video
from Kid Rock.
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Let me say something to all you and be
as clear and concise as possible.
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Fuck Bud Light and fuck
Anheuser-Busch.
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00:04:03,039 --> 00:04:04,159
Have a terrific day.
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00:04:05,080 --> 00:04:06,439
Okay, a few things.
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00:04:06,960 --> 00:04:09,835
I don't think there's a more dangerous
way to dispose of Bud Light,
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00:04:09,919 --> 00:04:11,916
other than, of course,
drinking it.
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00:04:12,000 --> 00:04:14,756
And second,
not to gun-shame Child Rock here,
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but you are 20 yards away
from a target that's bright,
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identifiable,
and, crucially, stationary,
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and you're spraying
bullets all over the place.
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Perhaps that is why it sure seems
like he may have had help there.
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Because if you watch it
slowed down,
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you'll notice the three blasts
that actually destroy the cases
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appear to be coming
from the right.
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And the thing is, it's not just
52-year-olds named Kid doing this,
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there have been multiple videos
of people destroying cans of Bud Light,
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and other Anheuser-Busch brands.
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Because if there's one thing
that hurts a company,
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it's destroying their product
after it's already been purchased.
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This is all very stupid, but there's
some real nastiness under all this.
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It's part of a general moral panic
around trans rights,
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arriving at the same time
as a rash of bills
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banning gender-affirming care for kids
and, in some states, adults as well.
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00:05:01,920 --> 00:05:04,956
And maddeningly, Anheuser-Busch's
response to that ugliness
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has been to equivocate
in the face of it.
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Its CEO put out a statement saying,
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"We never intended to be part
of a discussion that divides people.
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We are in the business of bringing
people together over a beer".
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Which, sure, although again,
not technically "beer"
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so much as it's "fizzy water
swished around a dog's mouth."
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And it is pretty annoying
to be both-sides-ing something
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when the two sides
are "I am trans",
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and "that makes me so mad I'm gonna
shoot $65 worth of nonrefundable beer".
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00:05:32,839 --> 00:05:35,959
And Budweiser just released
this equally empty new ad.
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Let me tell you a story
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about a beer,
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rooted in the heart of America.
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Found in a community
where a handshake is a sure contract.
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Raised by generations
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willing to sip,
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share,
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risk,
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remember.
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This is a story
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bigger than beer.
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This is the story
of the American spirit.
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Okay. There is both nothing
and a lot going on there.
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They are clearly so afraid
of offending anyone,
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they put out an ad essentially saying
"America something, something,"
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and made a point of stopping down,
for some reason,
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at a shot of the New York City skyline
so they could say, "Remember."
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00:06:33,600 --> 00:06:35,680
Is that a nine/11 reference, Budweiser ?
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00:06:36,439 --> 00:06:39,716
Because shots of a horse running
through the plains and "remember nine/11"
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feels less like an ad and more like
the results of feeding an AI program
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the prompt
"America freedom I'm sorry".
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This feels like a huge misfire
for Anheuser-Busch.
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Because when bigots are loudly
announcing they don't like your beer,
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because they are bigots,
that is an opportunity for you to say,
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"Then our beer is not for you."
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But if you're just going to cozy up
to them with platitudes,
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stock footage, and, frankly,
distractingly fuckable horses,
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00:07:04,839 --> 00:07:07,279
why not at least really go for it ?
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00:07:08,879 --> 00:07:11,120
Let me tell you a story
about a beer.
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One that believes in simple values,
like flag, hello, and troops.
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A beer that admittedly
does taste like the piss you make
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after drinking lots of a different
and better beer.
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But it's more than that.
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It's about horses, and living your life
however you choose.
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Unless, of course, that freedom
alienates our base of frat bros,
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on-duty cops,
and emotionally unavailable dads.
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Look, honestly,
we're running scared
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because Kid Rock told
his followers our beer was woke,
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instead of what it actually is:
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what you get when you ring out a bar
rag at the end of a shift at any bar.
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To that end, we're hoping to make
an ad that won't offend anyone.
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So, what's our beer about ?
Our beer's about the Grand Canyon,
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trains, and dogs being reunited
with soldiers.
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00:08:00,759 --> 00:08:02,240
It's about fireworks,
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00:08:02,800 --> 00:08:04,800
one kid pushing another
kid in a wagon,
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and sharks.
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American-made sharks.
Sharks who go to church.
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It's about hot dogs,
landing on the moon,
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remembering nine/11,
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and the Civil War,
whichever side you like.
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The bottom line is,
please buy our awful beer.
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To drink, to shoot,
we honestly don't care.
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We never created it
to be enjoyed, just purchased.
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Bud Light.
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Moving on.
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Our main story tonight
concerns cryptocurrency.
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The only word that makes
Elon Musk nut immediately.
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We first covered crypto five years ago,
when I was ten years younger,
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and since then, a lot has happened,
including, unfortunately,
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this video from last year promoting
the general concept of trading crypto.
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Hello,
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it's me.
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Would you like to learn
about exchanging cryptocurrency ?
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We'll go over everything,
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cause you got coins
from different blockchains
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and wanna do some trading.
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I mean, a lot to dislike about that,
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from her choosing to parody a song
by one of our greatest singers
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while having a voice that I can
only describe as a "no chair turn,"
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to wearing those earrings,
which scream,
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"I do my best
shopping at airports,"
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to the fact that her name
is Randi Zuckerberg,
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and yes, she is Mark's sister.
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Meaning that, incredibly,
she is the cool one in that family.
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And that wasn't even
the only song that she did.
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She did this one about how everything
with crypto was gonna go great.
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We're all gonna make it,
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yeah, we're all gonna make it.
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We're all gonna make it, everyone !
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"We're all gonna make it in crypto" is
a phrase that's aged about as well as,
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"Welcome aboard
the unsinkable Titanic !"
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Those videos came out when crypto
fever was still near its absolute peak.
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Stadiums were getting
named after crypto companies,
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00:10:12,240 --> 00:10:15,955
Matt Damon and LeBron James
did commercials for Crypto-dot-com,
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00:10:16,039 --> 00:10:18,756
and celebrities
from Larry David to Tom and Gisele,
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00:10:18,840 --> 00:10:20,396
pre-divorce but postlove,
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00:10:20,480 --> 00:10:23,396
hyped a crypto exchange
called FTX that was run
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by a 29-year-old supposed genius
named Sam Bankman-Fried,
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00:10:26,919 --> 00:10:28,516
a.k.a. SBF.
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He was on the cover of Forbes
and Fortune, with one calling him
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"The Next Warren Buffet",
and others calling him "JPEG Morgan".
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00:10:34,759 --> 00:10:38,116
And Sequoia Capital, one of the biggest
venture capital firms,
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had a $213 million investment
in the company.
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00:10:41,600 --> 00:10:45,075
But since then, to put it mildly,
there has been an implosion,
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which really broke through to public
consciousness before last Christmas.
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{\an8}In a span of 24 hours,
Sam Bankman-Fried
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00:10:51,960 --> 00:10:55,519
{\an8}was whisked by federal agents
in the Bahamas to New York City
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{\an8}where he faced a judge
and walked out of a federal courthouse
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{\an8}after posting bail
on a $250 million bond,
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00:11:03,480 --> 00:11:07,000
{\an8}which prosecutors believe
is one of the largest in U.S. history.
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00:11:07,559 --> 00:11:11,795
SBF was arrested for defrauding his
customers out of billions of dollars,
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00:11:11,879 --> 00:11:13,996
and to be honest, it seems like
the courtroom sketch artist
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may have been one of them.
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00:11:15,759 --> 00:11:19,276
Because this is one of the rudest
illustrations I've ever seen.
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00:11:19,360 --> 00:11:21,315
The whole "innocent
until proven guilty" thing
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00:11:21,399 --> 00:11:24,960
clearly doesn't apply to the side
of the law with the coloring pencils.
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00:11:25,320 --> 00:11:28,916
SBF's arrest was a big deal.
And as his company imploded,
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00:11:29,000 --> 00:11:31,720
some, like CNBC's Jim Cramer,
were furious.
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00:11:32,399 --> 00:11:34,116
{\an8}That guy is a clueless idiot.
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00:11:34,200 --> 00:11:36,276
{\an8}He's a pathological liar.
He's a con man.
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00:11:36,360 --> 00:11:39,516
{\an8}We're talking about nearly four years
of getting away with financial murder
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00:11:39,600 --> 00:11:40,800
{\an8}just because they could.
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00:11:42,000 --> 00:11:43,475
Those are some harsh words there
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from the squawking parrot
on every pirate's shoulder.
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00:11:46,200 --> 00:11:49,919
Especially as, just a year earlier,
Cramer was saying this.
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00:11:50,480 --> 00:11:54,555
{\an8}Tonight, we're going to educate
ourselves with Sam Bankman-Fried.
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00:11:54,639 --> 00:11:57,835
{\an8}Sam, it's an honor to have you,
I think you're pretty much a visionary.
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00:11:57,919 --> 00:12:00,396
Yeah, not great,
but also, not surprising.
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00:12:00,480 --> 00:12:04,435
After all, this is the same guy that
proclaimed that "Bear Stearns is fine"
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00:12:04,519 --> 00:12:06,396
literally days before it folded,
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00:12:06,480 --> 00:12:10,675
told his viewers to buy Netflix before
it lost almost 70% in five months,
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00:12:10,759 --> 00:12:13,396
and once, and this is true, said
that Google, Facebook, and Twitter
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00:12:13,480 --> 00:12:15,799
should hire Kevin Spacey
as a spokesperson.
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00:12:16,320 --> 00:12:19,270
Jim Cramer is the only person
who could look you in the eye,
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00:12:19,320 --> 00:12:21,279
say "You are going to die tomorrow",
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00:12:21,679 --> 00:12:23,236
and give you
an immediate sense of calm,
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00:12:23,320 --> 00:12:25,879
knowing that you're gonna live
for another 50 years.
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00:12:26,720 --> 00:12:30,916
But FTX has been just one of the many
dominos that fell in the crypto world.
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00:12:31,000 --> 00:12:34,075
Over the past two years, the market
value of all cryptocurrencies
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00:12:34,159 --> 00:12:38,919
fell from around three trillion in late
2021 to around one trillion last year.
225
00:12:39,240 --> 00:12:42,519
And there are small investors
who got badly hurt by all of this.
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00:12:42,960 --> 00:12:47,675
One in five Americans has invested in,
traded, or used cryptocurrency.
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You can find countless stories of people
losing most of their life's savings
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in the recent implosions.
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Underscoring that everyone in crypto
was never actually going to make it,
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no matter how much Randi Zuckerberg
scream-sang otherwise.
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Tonight, we'd take a look at what has
been happening in the world of crypto
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by looking at three of the biggest
collapses over the past year.
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Each of these companies
was founded on the promise
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that they would replace
some part of our financial system.
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There is Terra, a cryptocurrency.
Celsius, a crypto bank.
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And FTX,
a crypto trading platform.
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In theory, they were supposed
to be our next dollar,
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our next Bank of America,
and our next stock exchange.
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But in reality, they are fiascos.
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And before we start, we're not going
to be discussing the merits
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or the technology of the blockchain.
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We did that five years ago,
it's still on the internet,
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you can go watch it there,
or not.
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Not watching this show
is always a strong option for you.
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But just as a reminder:
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every single crypto coin is something
someone with a laptop made up.
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That is true for all of them,
like Dogecoin, Catcoin,
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00:13:51,000 --> 00:13:55,876
Panda Coin, Furry Coin, CumRocket,
Elon Sperm, and Monkey Jizz.
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00:13:55,960 --> 00:13:57,675
Those are all real, by the way.
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00:13:57,759 --> 00:14:00,075
We were going to come up
with a fake one as a joke,
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but then we saw Monkey Jizz
and it felt like a hat on a hat.
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To the extent
any of these coins have value,
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it's based on whether
people believe they do,
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which often comes down
to their confidence
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00:14:11,759 --> 00:14:13,955
in the person
or group who made the coin.
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00:14:14,039 --> 00:14:17,236
And that basic fact
makes the crypto business
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00:14:17,320 --> 00:14:19,840
very attractive
to a certain type of person.
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00:14:20,279 --> 00:14:23,516
One columnist who's covered
this intensively sums it up like this
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00:14:23,600 --> 00:14:26,996
"If you are running a scam,
you will be drawn to crypto.
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You are running a confidence game,
and crypto offers
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00:14:30,039 --> 00:14:33,195
the most efficient market
for turning confidence into money."
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00:14:33,279 --> 00:14:35,835
And the story for all three companies
that we're gonna look at tonight
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00:14:35,919 --> 00:14:38,435
is one of confidence gained,
and then squandered.
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00:14:38,519 --> 00:14:42,876
And let's start with Terra, which
was a cryptocurrency launched in 2018
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by a brash South Korean entrepreneur
named Do Kwon.
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00:14:46,399 --> 00:14:50,360
People had faith in Terra, in part,
because Kwon exuded confidence.
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Here he is on Twitch,
responding to a question
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00:14:52,799 --> 00:14:55,320
about the volatility of companies
in his space.
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00:14:56,080 --> 00:14:59,555
{\an8}How many of these companies
you think are entering this space
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00:14:59,639 --> 00:15:01,555
{\an8}just because it's hot
and there's a lot of funding
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00:15:01,639 --> 00:15:05,519
{\an8}versus the ones that will still be here,
you know, two to five years later ?
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00:15:05,960 --> 00:15:09,879
{\an8}95% are gonna die.
95% are going to die.
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00:15:11,279 --> 00:15:14,320
{\an8}But there's also entertainment
in watching companies die too.
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That's pretty cocky.
But I guess he is kind of right.
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00:15:18,080 --> 00:15:20,396
There can be entertainment
in watching a company die.
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00:15:20,480 --> 00:15:23,435
Incidentally, I believe
that's the new slogan for Max.
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00:15:23,519 --> 00:15:26,036
Do you like HBO, but want ads,
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00:15:26,120 --> 00:15:28,356
the Property Brothers,
and also don't like HBO ?
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00:15:28,440 --> 00:15:31,360
Max ! There's entertainment
in watching a company die !
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00:15:32,080 --> 00:15:34,756
Kwon's company made something
called a stablecoin,
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00:15:34,840 --> 00:15:37,675
the idea of which is that,
unlike something like Bitcoin,
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00:15:37,759 --> 00:15:40,195
it would always be worth
a stable amount.
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00:15:40,279 --> 00:15:45,879
So, one unit of Terra, or UST,
would always equal one U.S. dollar.
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00:15:46,240 --> 00:15:49,080
And the way they guaranteed this
was truly absurd.
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00:15:49,399 --> 00:15:53,835
Because rather than collecting a dollar
for every unit of Terra that it issued,
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00:15:53,919 --> 00:15:55,315
which would make sense,
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00:15:55,399 --> 00:15:58,715
it instead tied its value
to a different coin, Luna,
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00:15:58,799 --> 00:16:00,320
which it had also made up.
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00:16:00,759 --> 00:16:03,435
And it said that it would turn Luna
into Terra and Terra into Luna,
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00:16:03,519 --> 00:16:05,039
with a special algorithm.
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00:16:05,399 --> 00:16:08,715
And if that sounds both complicated
and stupid to you, it is.
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00:16:08,799 --> 00:16:10,475
Here is how the company
explained it,
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00:16:10,559 --> 00:16:13,315
and you don't need to understand
anything that's happening here,
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00:16:13,399 --> 00:16:15,120
because it doesn't make sense.
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00:16:15,639 --> 00:16:18,480
Let's imagine the entire Terra economy
as a pool.
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{\an8}The size of the pool is determined
by the total supply of UST.
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00:16:23,559 --> 00:16:26,399
{\an8}If more people want UST,
the tide rises,
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00:16:26,720 --> 00:16:29,916
{\an8}and if less people want UST,
the tide falls.
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00:16:30,000 --> 00:16:32,075
{\an8}To bring back the water level
to $1,
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00:16:32,159 --> 00:16:35,600
{\an8}we can expand the pool
by introducing a new supply of UST.
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00:16:37,080 --> 00:16:39,320
But where does new UST
come from ?
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00:16:40,480 --> 00:16:45,120
At Terra, we've designed a machine
that swaps $1 worth of Luna to one UST.
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00:16:45,960 --> 00:16:48,996
Okay. Imagine if someone came up
to you when you were at the ATM
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00:16:49,080 --> 00:16:52,555
and said, "Give me that money,
and instead, I'll give you blorps.
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00:16:52,639 --> 00:16:56,075
One blorp is always worth $1,
and the reason I can guarantee that is,
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00:16:56,159 --> 00:16:58,955
I'll sell as many fleezles
as it takes to make that happen.
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00:16:59,039 --> 00:17:00,639
Also, I make the fleezles."
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00:17:01,039 --> 00:17:03,516
You would probably say no,
wouldn't you, immediately.
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00:17:03,600 --> 00:17:06,195
But if they then said
"I do it with a special algorithm,"
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00:17:06,279 --> 00:17:09,076
suddenly, you might think that
they know something that you don't.
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00:17:09,160 --> 00:17:11,636
Well, that's basically
what happened here.
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00:17:11,720 --> 00:17:14,596
And to be fair, some people did see
the problem with this.
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00:17:14,680 --> 00:17:17,435
In 2018, an analyst looked
at Terra's business model
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00:17:17,519 --> 00:17:21,079
and said, "This is crazy.
This obviously doesn't work."
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00:17:22,000 --> 00:17:25,356
And Kwon would shame anyone
who dared question his model.
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00:17:25,440 --> 00:17:26,876
After a financial writer
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00:17:26,960 --> 00:17:28,916
raised questions about
the vulnerabilities of crypto,
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00:17:29,000 --> 00:17:32,079
Kwon tweeted,
"I don't debate the poor on Twitter".
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00:17:32,720 --> 00:17:35,955
And for a while, his confidence worked.
At its height,
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00:17:36,039 --> 00:17:39,596
Luna's total value ballooned
to more than $40 billion dollars.
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00:17:39,680 --> 00:17:41,876
The Washington Nationals
entered a partnership with them,
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00:17:41,960 --> 00:17:43,955
Kwon's followers
"called themselves Lunatics,"
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00:17:44,039 --> 00:17:47,039
and one of his backers
even got a Luna-themed tattoo.
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00:17:47,559 --> 00:17:50,240
And that is a bold move
from Crypto Moby there.
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00:17:50,759 --> 00:17:53,955
I would say it is the worst tattoo
I've ever seen,
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00:17:54,039 --> 00:17:57,596
but I have also seen this tattoo
of R. Kelly with the words,
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00:17:57,680 --> 00:18:02,359
"I don't see nothing wrong",
and that's around five% worse.
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00:18:03,359 --> 00:18:06,076
But we now know,
according to the SEC,
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00:18:06,160 --> 00:18:08,356
the algorithm
didn't work as they'd claimed.
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00:18:08,440 --> 00:18:11,680
In fact, at one point in 2021,
Terra nearly collapsed.
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00:18:12,079 --> 00:18:16,116
While Kwon told people the crisis had
been averted thanks to his algorithm,
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00:18:16,200 --> 00:18:19,156
saying it was "automatically
self-healing", it turns out,
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00:18:19,240 --> 00:18:22,556
it was only saved by the deliberate
intervention of a third party,
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00:18:22,640 --> 00:18:27,079
which was quietly purchasing large
quantities of Terra to restore its value.
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00:18:27,559 --> 00:18:31,195
But last May, a few big trades
destabilized the price of Terra,
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00:18:31,279 --> 00:18:33,796
prompting a panic in which
both Terra and Luna holders
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00:18:33,880 --> 00:18:35,515
started selling en masse.
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00:18:35,599 --> 00:18:38,880
And since they weren't backed
by anything but good vibes,
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00:18:39,319 --> 00:18:42,435
both coins' value
were trading at essentially zero,
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00:18:42,519 --> 00:18:46,200
and the implosion erased
tens of billions of dollars of value.
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00:18:46,720 --> 00:18:49,596
As for Kwon, he now faces
charges in multiple countries.
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00:18:49,680 --> 00:18:52,796
And he went on the run for a bit,
but before he was caught,
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00:18:52,880 --> 00:18:56,195
managed to find some
emotional support on a crypto podcast.
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00:18:56,279 --> 00:18:59,960
Here he is, mid thought, getting
surprised by an unexpected guest.
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00:19:00,720 --> 00:19:06,039
You're you haven't slept in a while
and you feel almost...
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00:19:07,960 --> 00:19:09,660
Holy shit,
is that Martin Shkreli ?
347
00:19:09,759 --> 00:19:12,459
Do, I just wanted to let you know,
jail's not that bad.
348
00:19:12,519 --> 00:19:16,839
It sucks, but it's not
the worst thing ever.
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00:19:17,160 --> 00:19:20,596
So don't fret, if that...
I hope it doesn't happen.
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00:19:20,680 --> 00:19:22,680
But if it does happen,
it's not that bad.
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00:19:23,119 --> 00:19:24,119
Good to know.
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00:19:26,119 --> 00:19:28,675
I don't think there's ever been
a more cursed Zoom call.
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00:19:28,759 --> 00:19:31,659
And I'm very much including
that celebrity "Imagine" video.
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00:19:32,799 --> 00:19:34,796
And, quick sidenote,
if you're wondering if Jim Cramer
355
00:19:34,880 --> 00:19:37,076
ever saw
Martin Shkreli's scandal coming,
356
00:19:37,160 --> 00:19:39,515
you should know
that Shkreli actually got his start
357
00:19:39,599 --> 00:19:40,955
at Jim Cramer's hedge fund.
358
00:19:41,039 --> 00:19:43,519
So, another ace in the hole
for the Crame-game.
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00:19:44,200 --> 00:19:47,035
But it's not just cryptocurrencies
that can be built on sand,
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00:19:47,119 --> 00:19:49,195
the same can happen
with crypto banks.
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00:19:49,279 --> 00:19:51,035
Which are already
a bit of a misnomer,
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00:19:51,119 --> 00:19:54,995
'cause unlike traditional banks,
they're not regulated or insured.
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00:19:55,079 --> 00:19:58,356
But they are firms that will hold
your crypto, pay you interest,
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00:19:58,440 --> 00:19:59,515
and lend it out.
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00:19:59,599 --> 00:20:02,515
And that brings us
to our second company: Celsius,
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00:20:02,599 --> 00:20:07,076
one of the biggest crypto banks,
founded by this guy, Alex Mashinsky.
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00:20:07,160 --> 00:20:10,596
Now, his whole sales pitch,
as you can see from his cool T-shirt,
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00:20:10,680 --> 00:20:12,836
was "banks are not your friends".
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00:20:12,920 --> 00:20:14,195
Which is clearly true.
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00:20:14,279 --> 00:20:17,229
But he really doubled down
on that message in ads like this.
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00:20:17,480 --> 00:20:19,556
Banks are not your friends.
We all know that.
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00:20:19,640 --> 00:20:23,995
And we decided to create a replacement
for the banking system, right ?
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00:20:24,079 --> 00:20:26,156
Something that acts
in your best interest.
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00:20:26,240 --> 00:20:29,396
A place where you can actually
have your money work for you.
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00:20:29,480 --> 00:20:30,955
Not just you work
for your money.
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00:20:31,039 --> 00:20:33,275
And basically, three years
since we launched the product,
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00:20:33,359 --> 00:20:35,859
we've paid a billion dollars
back to the community.
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00:20:36,240 --> 00:20:39,396
Despite the fact that he sounds exactly
like Tommy Wiseau in "The Room",
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00:20:39,480 --> 00:20:42,435
Mashinsky built
one of the biggest crypto lenders
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00:20:42,519 --> 00:20:45,076
with more than $12 billion
in deposits.
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00:20:45,160 --> 00:20:46,396
And one of the ways
that he did this
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00:20:46,480 --> 00:20:51,356
was by promising customers would get
up to 18% interest rates on deposits,
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00:20:51,440 --> 00:20:56,475
that's versus the average of .06% then
being offered by traditional banks.
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00:20:56,559 --> 00:21:00,596
He liked to say that banks could pay
those sorts of rates if they wanted to,
385
00:21:00,680 --> 00:21:02,435
adding, "Somebody is lying".
386
00:21:02,519 --> 00:21:05,156
"Either the bank is lying
or Celsius is lying."
387
00:21:05,240 --> 00:21:08,720
And hey, porque no los dos ?
Two things can be true !
388
00:21:09,240 --> 00:21:11,540
Like how Frankie Muniz
can be both 37 years old
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00:21:11,599 --> 00:21:12,920
and 12 at the same time
390
00:21:13,759 --> 00:21:15,876
or how The Rock can be one of the
highest paid actors in Hollywood
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00:21:15,960 --> 00:21:17,559
despite never actually acting.
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00:21:18,599 --> 00:21:22,156
Mashinsky went out of his way
to build trust among customers,
393
00:21:22,240 --> 00:21:25,836
holding weekly livestream AMAs,
sometimes featuring dumb stunts,
394
00:21:25,920 --> 00:21:28,799
like when he started one
wearing a Mandalorian mask.
395
00:21:29,160 --> 00:21:31,435
And on these calls, he would brag
about all the great things
396
00:21:31,519 --> 00:21:33,156
that his company
was doing for people,
397
00:21:33,240 --> 00:21:36,275
while occasionally engaging
in the single worst attempt
398
00:21:36,359 --> 00:21:38,119
at a dab I have ever seen.
399
00:21:38,759 --> 00:21:42,240
The beauty of what Celsius
managed to do is that we deliver yield,
400
00:21:42,599 --> 00:21:45,836
we pay it to the people who would
never be able to do it themselves,
401
00:21:45,920 --> 00:21:49,200
we take it from the rich,
and we beat the index, okay ?
402
00:21:49,559 --> 00:21:52,259
That's like going to the Olympics
and getting 15 medals
403
00:21:52,799 --> 00:21:54,680
in 15 different fields.
404
00:21:55,359 --> 00:21:56,359
Okay ?
405
00:21:58,319 --> 00:22:02,235
What the fuck was that ?
A heads-up dab ?
406
00:22:02,319 --> 00:22:04,156
And to be honest,
why a dab at all ?
407
00:22:04,240 --> 00:22:07,195
It's not 2015
and you're not a guest on "Ellen".
408
00:22:07,279 --> 00:22:09,440
Also, you're 57 years old.
409
00:22:10,200 --> 00:22:12,275
That demonstrates a lack
of judgment frankly terrifying
410
00:22:12,359 --> 00:22:15,596
in someone supposedly
running a financial institution.
411
00:22:15,680 --> 00:22:19,675
Mashinsky insisted "we are probably
one of the least risky businesses
412
00:22:19,759 --> 00:22:22,200
that regulators worldwide
have ever seen".
413
00:22:22,559 --> 00:22:24,480
Which was just flagrantly untrue.
414
00:22:25,119 --> 00:22:29,156
A court-appointed examiner found that
he was making incredibly risky loans
415
00:22:29,240 --> 00:22:33,475
and was using customers' money to pay
the high yields that he'd promised.
416
00:22:33,559 --> 00:22:37,160
Which sure sounds like the textbook
definition of a Ponzi scheme.
417
00:22:37,720 --> 00:22:41,715
Eventually, Celsius started minting its
own coin to inflate its balance sheet,
418
00:22:41,799 --> 00:22:44,556
a coin that its own employees
said was "worthless"
419
00:22:44,640 --> 00:22:46,559
and that its price "should be zero".
420
00:22:46,960 --> 00:22:49,796
One even said that the whole thing
was "very Ponzi like",
421
00:22:49,880 --> 00:22:52,680
and at one point,
the company's former finance chief said
422
00:22:52,680 --> 00:22:54,680
"we are doing
something possibly illegal"
423
00:22:54,759 --> 00:22:56,559
"and definitely not compliant".
424
00:22:57,240 --> 00:23:00,116
And what an office
that must've been to work in.
425
00:23:00,200 --> 00:23:02,275
Finding yourself wandering
over to Sheryl's desk like
426
00:23:02,359 --> 00:23:06,759
"Hey girl, great top ! Quick question,
are we like doing crimes ?"
427
00:23:09,039 --> 00:23:11,640
"'Cause I'm getting like major
crime vibes in here."
428
00:23:12,640 --> 00:23:16,799
"Also, have you seen our boss dab ?
It's very weird".
429
00:23:18,240 --> 00:23:21,356
And when Celsius inevitably
collapsed, people got hurt.
430
00:23:21,440 --> 00:23:24,796
Especially because, in the fine print,
the company's terms of use stated
431
00:23:24,880 --> 00:23:28,755
that customers transferred all rights
of ownership in their crypto assets
432
00:23:28,839 --> 00:23:31,396
by depositing them
in a Celsius account.
433
00:23:31,480 --> 00:23:33,675
Meaning that when people
tried to withdraw their money,
434
00:23:33,759 --> 00:23:36,359
they found out it legally
wasn't theirs anymore.
435
00:23:36,720 --> 00:23:38,995
And while Celsius and Mashinsky
have not been criminally charged,
436
00:23:39,079 --> 00:23:43,556
tens of thousands of customers have
digital assets trapped on the platform.
437
00:23:43,640 --> 00:23:47,680
And Celsius has reported
that it owes them $4.7 billion.
438
00:23:48,319 --> 00:23:51,719
Is enough to make you think that,
while "banks are not your friends",
439
00:23:51,799 --> 00:23:54,039
this guy may actually be
your enemy.
440
00:23:54,599 --> 00:23:57,916
So, we've got bullshit money,
and a bullshit bank.
441
00:23:58,000 --> 00:24:00,836
Which brings us back
to Sam Bankman-Fried and FTX.
442
00:24:00,920 --> 00:24:04,356
It was basically
a whole bullshit trading platform.
443
00:24:04,440 --> 00:24:06,435
The pitch was that FTX
was an exchange
444
00:24:06,519 --> 00:24:10,076
where you could buy and sell
cryptocurrencies just like stocks,
445
00:24:10,160 --> 00:24:13,460
and its ease was emphasized in ads,
like this one with Steph Curry,
446
00:24:13,480 --> 00:24:16,039
that play, in hindsight,
like a bit of a red flag.
447
00:24:16,920 --> 00:24:20,519
This is Steph Curry. The world's
leading expert on cryptocurrency.
448
00:24:20,920 --> 00:24:21,955
I'm not.
449
00:24:22,039 --> 00:24:25,116
Quick messing around, man,
give me some tips on crypto.
450
00:24:25,200 --> 00:24:27,515
- No.
- But you are an expert, right ?
451
00:24:27,599 --> 00:24:29,955
No. I'm not an expert
and I don't need to be,
452
00:24:30,039 --> 00:24:34,279
with FTX app, everything I need to buy,
sell, and trade crypto safely.
453
00:24:35,240 --> 00:24:38,480
Yeah, "you don't even have
to understand it, just use it."
454
00:24:38,799 --> 00:24:41,549
Their pitch for a major money app
was basically the same
455
00:24:41,599 --> 00:24:44,195
as the attitude
that we all have towards semicolons.
456
00:24:44,279 --> 00:24:47,235
You're never 100% using one of those,
are you ?
457
00:24:47,319 --> 00:24:49,400
It's a real
"go with god" punctuation.
458
00:24:49,920 --> 00:24:50,995
Although I will say,
459
00:24:51,079 --> 00:24:53,235
it kind of makes sense
they'd get Steph Curry for that ad
460
00:24:53,319 --> 00:24:56,116
considering that he's already
a spokesperson for Subway,
461
00:24:56,200 --> 00:24:58,556
a restaurant whose slogan
is officially "Eat Fresh"
462
00:24:58,640 --> 00:25:00,839
but spiritually "Trust Us, It's Tuna."
463
00:25:01,880 --> 00:25:05,356
And, again, for a while,
that pitch worked pretty well.
464
00:25:05,440 --> 00:25:08,240
FTX held a conference
in the Bahamas less than a year ago
465
00:25:08,279 --> 00:25:11,116
that included a panel
with Tony Blair and Bill Clinton,
466
00:25:11,200 --> 00:25:14,116
and appearances
by Orlando Bloom and Katy Perry.
467
00:25:14,200 --> 00:25:17,519
Tom Brady was even there in person,
too, making videos like this.
468
00:25:18,160 --> 00:25:20,799
What's up, guys ?
I'm here with my boy Sam from FTX.
469
00:25:21,160 --> 00:25:24,116
We're at Crypto Bahamas conference,
we're gonna start the day,
470
00:25:24,200 --> 00:25:25,556
we're gonna do some TikToks
for you guys,
471
00:25:25,640 --> 00:25:28,916
and it's gonna be an amazing day,
we're gonna get started,
472
00:25:29,000 --> 00:25:30,640
we'll do a get ready with me...
473
00:25:31,039 --> 00:25:32,519
Sam, where you going, bro ?
474
00:25:33,319 --> 00:25:34,400
Look, Sam...
475
00:25:34,839 --> 00:25:40,119
Sam, from one Ohio six to another,
never stand that close to Tom Brady.
476
00:25:40,519 --> 00:25:42,076
It's doing you no favors.
477
00:25:42,160 --> 00:25:44,755
There is a reason that I've never been
photographed with Chris Hemsworth,
478
00:25:44,839 --> 00:25:46,640
no matter how much he begs for it.
479
00:25:47,119 --> 00:25:51,195
Now, the joke there was that Sam
was a shy, self-effacing genius.
480
00:25:51,279 --> 00:25:53,116
And that's the general vibe
that he went for,
481
00:25:53,200 --> 00:25:55,195
it's why he dressed
like every day was laundry day.
482
00:25:55,279 --> 00:25:57,079
And combed his hair with a balloon.
483
00:25:58,440 --> 00:26:00,955
Obviously, we now know
that things came crashing down,
484
00:26:01,039 --> 00:26:04,799
but even after they did, SBF was still
defensive about what he'd built.
485
00:26:05,119 --> 00:26:07,675
{\an8}A lot of people look at you
and see Bernie Madoff.
486
00:26:07,759 --> 00:26:08,799
{\an8}Yeah.
487
00:26:09,559 --> 00:26:12,799
{\an8}I mean, I don't think
that's who I am at all,
488
00:26:13,160 --> 00:26:15,475
{\an8}but I understand
why they're saying that.
489
00:26:15,559 --> 00:26:16,596
{\an8}People lost money.
490
00:26:16,680 --> 00:26:19,279
{\an8}When you look at the classic
Bernie Madoff story,
491
00:26:20,119 --> 00:26:23,515
{\an8}there was no real business there.
492
00:26:23,599 --> 00:26:25,636
{\an8}The whole thing,
as I understand it,
493
00:26:25,720 --> 00:26:29,400
{\an8}I think, was just one big
Ponzi scheme, right ?
494
00:26:29,960 --> 00:26:32,319
{\an8}FTX, that was a real business.
495
00:26:33,039 --> 00:26:34,559
Yeah, but was it though ?
496
00:26:35,160 --> 00:26:38,675
Because I understand that no one wants
to admit that their business was a scam,
497
00:26:38,759 --> 00:26:41,876
it's the same reason no parent
wants to admit that their child sucks,
498
00:26:41,960 --> 00:26:44,596
saying it out loud makes it real,
doesn't it ?
499
00:26:44,680 --> 00:26:46,356
But the truth is some kids do.
500
00:26:46,440 --> 00:26:49,160
Some kids are, just to put it nicely,
not a fun hang.
501
00:26:49,880 --> 00:26:52,530
You still love them, of course,
but do you like them ?
502
00:26:53,319 --> 00:26:54,515
Exactly.
503
00:26:54,599 --> 00:26:59,076
But it's worth understanding
what SBF's real business consisted of.
504
00:26:59,160 --> 00:27:01,596
Because it turns out that,
in addition to FTX,
505
00:27:01,680 --> 00:27:03,715
he had a hedge fund
called Alameda,
506
00:27:03,799 --> 00:27:07,955
and he also produced his own coin,
because of course he did, called FTT.
507
00:27:08,039 --> 00:27:10,356
And very basically,
according to authorities,
508
00:27:10,440 --> 00:27:12,955
what he did was filled up
his hedge fund's books
509
00:27:13,039 --> 00:27:14,636
with the coin that he produced,
510
00:27:14,720 --> 00:27:17,396
using his exchange
to inflate that coin's price.
511
00:27:17,480 --> 00:27:20,330
And once his hedge fund
had a giant stash of his own coin,
512
00:27:20,400 --> 00:27:22,836
it used that as collateral
to take out several loans.
513
00:27:22,920 --> 00:27:25,916
Essentially, the feds say
that he created fake money,
514
00:27:26,000 --> 00:27:29,556
inflated its price, and then borrowed
real money against that.
515
00:27:29,640 --> 00:27:30,955
But wait, I'm not done.
516
00:27:31,039 --> 00:27:34,035
Because he was also taking money
from actual FTX customers,
517
00:27:34,119 --> 00:27:36,435
the ones, remember,
who were putting money into FTX
518
00:27:36,519 --> 00:27:38,796
because Steph Curry
told them it was safe,
519
00:27:38,880 --> 00:27:41,279
and then loaning it back
to his hedge fund.
520
00:27:41,880 --> 00:27:44,156
The whole thing
was honestly pretty blatant.
521
00:27:44,240 --> 00:27:47,995
After everything collapsed, a new CEO
came in to handle the bankruptcy,
522
00:27:48,079 --> 00:27:49,116
and as he told Congress,
523
00:27:49,200 --> 00:27:52,960
he was shocked at how sloppy
and poorly run everything was.
524
00:27:53,799 --> 00:27:56,475
{\an8}This is really old-fashioned
embezzlement.
525
00:27:56,559 --> 00:28:01,920
{\an8}This is taking money from customers
and using it for your own purpose.
526
00:28:02,640 --> 00:28:04,235
{\an8}Not sophisticated at all.
527
00:28:04,319 --> 00:28:07,035
{\an8}Literally, there's no record
keeping whatsoever.
528
00:28:07,119 --> 00:28:08,356
{\an8}They used QuickBooks,
529
00:28:08,440 --> 00:28:11,156
{\an8}a multibillion-dollar company
using QuickBooks.
530
00:28:11,240 --> 00:28:12,759
{\an8}- QuickBooks ?
- QuickBooks.
531
00:28:13,119 --> 00:28:15,275
It's true, they used QuickBooks.
532
00:28:15,359 --> 00:28:17,836
And look, I'm no accountant.
I mean, I should be.
533
00:28:17,920 --> 00:28:21,556
I look like my most formative childhood
memories were in an H&R Block.
534
00:28:21,640 --> 00:28:24,740
I look like I fell into a vat
of radioactive itemized receipts.
535
00:28:24,799 --> 00:28:27,440
I look like what appears
if you say "Microsoft Excel"
536
00:28:27,759 --> 00:28:28,916
into the mirror three times.
537
00:28:29,000 --> 00:28:30,876
But I'm actually not an accountant.
538
00:28:30,960 --> 00:28:34,960
Even I know that using QuickBooks
for a company of that size is absurd.
539
00:28:35,680 --> 00:28:39,076
That man also revealed that FTX let
thousands of un cashed deposit checks
540
00:28:39,160 --> 00:28:40,715
sit around "like junk mail"
541
00:28:40,799 --> 00:28:45,079
and approved millions of dollars
of expense reports via emoji on Slack.
542
00:28:45,680 --> 00:28:48,556
And I'm dying
to know which emoji they used.
543
00:28:48,640 --> 00:28:52,556
Because we all know, emojis on Slack
have very specific meanings,
544
00:28:52,640 --> 00:28:55,596
for instance thumbs up means
"I'm done with this conversation".
545
00:28:55,680 --> 00:28:58,396
This means
"I'm too lazy to type thank you".
546
00:28:58,480 --> 00:29:00,830
This means
"I'm dying inside, don't talk to me".
547
00:29:00,880 --> 00:29:03,035
This means
"Feeling cheeky, let's goss".
548
00:29:03,119 --> 00:29:05,440
And this one means
"Look at me, I'm Italian".
549
00:29:05,759 --> 00:29:08,515
But I've yet to discover
which emoji means,
550
00:29:08,599 --> 00:29:11,156
"Go ahead, spend millions
of dollars of company funds".
551
00:29:11,240 --> 00:29:14,079
But if I had to guess,
I'd say it's probably money barf.
552
00:29:14,599 --> 00:29:17,796
But it is no wonder
that that new CEO has said,
553
00:29:17,880 --> 00:29:22,035
"Never in my career have I seen such
a complete failure of corporate controls
554
00:29:22,119 --> 00:29:25,755
and such a complete absence
of trustworthy financial information
555
00:29:25,839 --> 00:29:27,035
as occurred here.
556
00:29:27,119 --> 00:29:30,356
Which is really saying something,
given his career includes
557
00:29:30,440 --> 00:29:32,440
overseeing the bankruptcy of Enron.
558
00:29:33,240 --> 00:29:35,715
And if you don't remember
how bad Enron was,
559
00:29:35,799 --> 00:29:38,275
Google it,
I can't do everything for you.
560
00:29:38,359 --> 00:29:40,680
Suffice to say, it's very bad.
561
00:29:41,599 --> 00:29:44,235
The throughline in all three companies
I've talked about tonight
562
00:29:44,319 --> 00:29:47,275
is them confidently
presenting a veneer of expertise,
563
00:29:47,359 --> 00:29:50,359
even as, beneath the surface,
they were a complete shit show.
564
00:29:50,400 --> 00:29:53,435
And it kind of says something that,
even as they imploded,
565
00:29:53,519 --> 00:29:58,076
all three of the men behind them were
trying to bluster their way out of it.
566
00:29:58,160 --> 00:30:01,275
That interview where SBF insisted
his company was a "real business"
567
00:30:01,359 --> 00:30:04,195
came after it had declared
Chapter 11.
568
00:30:04,279 --> 00:30:07,836
As for Do Kwon, he spent time
pushing a new Terra 2.0 coin,
569
00:30:07,920 --> 00:30:10,715
and was finally arrested last month,
after a lengthy pursuit,
570
00:30:10,799 --> 00:30:12,356
including at one point him tweeting
571
00:30:12,440 --> 00:30:15,675
that he wasn't "on the run"
from South Korean authorities,
572
00:30:15,759 --> 00:30:18,799
to which they responded
that he was "obviously on the run".
573
00:30:20,319 --> 00:30:22,475
And as for Mashinsky,
here is audio of him
574
00:30:22,559 --> 00:30:24,796
trying to buck up his team
at an all-hands meeting,
575
00:30:24,880 --> 00:30:27,440
even as his company
was crumbling around him.
576
00:30:28,160 --> 00:30:32,200
Pepsi filed for bankruptcy twice,
right ?
577
00:30:33,319 --> 00:30:37,515
Does it make the Pepsi
taste less good, right ?
578
00:30:37,599 --> 00:30:39,675
Delta filed for bankruptcy, right ?
579
00:30:39,759 --> 00:30:42,509
Do you not fly Delta
because they filed for bankruptcy ?
580
00:30:42,920 --> 00:30:45,070
Okay, but that's not
the same thing, is it ?
581
00:30:45,440 --> 00:30:47,836
Celsius was supposed
to be good with money.
582
00:30:47,920 --> 00:30:50,079
If Delta crashed four billion planes
583
00:30:50,400 --> 00:30:53,316
and drinking Pepsi gave everyone
infinity diarrhea,
584
00:30:53,400 --> 00:30:57,480
then people might lose trust in them,
and for a pretty fucking good reason.
585
00:30:57,799 --> 00:30:59,796
And the thing is,
there are still companies out there,
586
00:30:59,880 --> 00:31:02,675
making all the same claims
that you've seen tonight.
587
00:31:02,759 --> 00:31:04,955
And I'm not saying
that they are all scams.
588
00:31:05,039 --> 00:31:07,195
Maybe these three are the exceptions,
589
00:31:07,279 --> 00:31:09,836
although they would be joining
all the other exceptions
590
00:31:09,920 --> 00:31:11,636
that we haven't had time
to talk about tonight,
591
00:31:11,720 --> 00:31:15,240
from Bitconnect to Quadriga
to so, so many more.
592
00:31:15,799 --> 00:31:20,475
But in a financial system where
the only real currency is confidence,
593
00:31:20,559 --> 00:31:22,480
scammers are going to thrive.
594
00:31:23,119 --> 00:31:26,475
I know that we usually like to point
to a solution at the end of our stories.
595
00:31:26,559 --> 00:31:29,076
And that often means
calling for more regulation.
596
00:31:29,160 --> 00:31:31,680
But I'm not sure
that's a good idea here.
597
00:31:32,160 --> 00:31:35,715
The danger is, regulation might
give this sector more legitimacy,
598
00:31:35,799 --> 00:31:39,515
it'd make a risky investment look safe,
when it is clearly not.
599
00:31:39,599 --> 00:31:43,475
And that might entice banks to start
getting more involved in crypto,
600
00:31:43,559 --> 00:31:45,755
giving the sector
even more legitimacy,
601
00:31:45,839 --> 00:31:48,836
and also,
exposing all of us to its volatility.
602
00:31:48,920 --> 00:31:52,076
It really says a lot that one of the
leading advocates for the government
603
00:31:52,160 --> 00:31:55,160
to strongly regulate crypto
was Sam Bankman-Fried.
604
00:31:55,799 --> 00:32:00,675
I'm absolutely not saying that
we should get rid of crypto entirely.
605
00:32:00,759 --> 00:32:02,316
It could eventually be useful.
606
00:32:02,400 --> 00:32:03,955
Maybe the third time
that we talk about it,
607
00:32:04,039 --> 00:32:06,755
we'll all be using a digital coin
to buy everything.
608
00:32:06,839 --> 00:32:09,116
I doubt it,
but I can't predict the future.
609
00:32:09,200 --> 00:32:10,920
After all, I'm no Jim Cramer.
610
00:32:12,319 --> 00:32:16,955
But we should recognize that right now,
the main thing you can do with crypto
611
00:32:17,039 --> 00:32:19,156
is gamble with more crypto.
612
00:32:19,240 --> 00:32:20,799
This is all still a casino.
613
00:32:21,319 --> 00:32:24,069
So, if you do want to invest,
do your own due diligence,
614
00:32:24,119 --> 00:32:26,235
never put in more
than you can afford to lose,
615
00:32:26,319 --> 00:32:29,799
and if you ever see
someone doing this, run.
616
00:32:30,960 --> 00:32:32,000
And now, this !
617
00:32:32,759 --> 00:32:33,955
And Now:
618
00:32:34,039 --> 00:32:37,519
A Look at a Few More
of Jim Cramer's Great Calls.
619
00:32:38,359 --> 00:32:40,195
Could this be the future
of preventative medicine ?
620
00:32:40,279 --> 00:32:42,195
Let's take a closer look
with Elizabeth Holmes.
621
00:32:42,279 --> 00:32:46,156
To me, it's reasonable to compare you.
I usually don't do this,
622
00:32:46,240 --> 00:32:48,390
to Steve Jobs
and what he did for computing.
623
00:32:51,359 --> 00:32:54,475
{\an8}The ninth best performer year
to date is SVB Financial.
624
00:32:54,559 --> 00:32:57,116
{\an8}This company is a merchant bank
with a deposit base
625
00:32:57,200 --> 00:32:59,195
{\an8}that Wall Street
had been snakily concerned about.
626
00:32:59,279 --> 00:33:02,779
{\an8}I think the fears were not justified.
It's a very compelling situation.
627
00:33:05,319 --> 00:33:07,519
{\an8}Zoom video. What can I say ?
628
00:33:08,559 --> 00:33:11,035
{\an8}This is their economy,
the Zoom economy.
629
00:33:11,119 --> 00:33:15,079
{\an8}It's the greatest story I've seen since
the dawn of the personal computer.
630
00:33:20,200 --> 00:33:21,519
{\an8}Bear Stearns !
631
00:33:23,240 --> 00:33:24,680
{\an8}It was... now it's...
632
00:33:26,799 --> 00:33:28,279
{\an8}Great investment banking.
633
00:33:33,960 --> 00:33:37,515
{\an8}Ukraine, they have an army,
but that army's going to be overrun,
634
00:33:37,599 --> 00:33:39,200
{\an8}within the first two hours.
635
00:33:42,119 --> 00:33:44,116
I felt like a million bucks
in the metaverse,
636
00:33:44,200 --> 00:33:46,035
but that's not enough
to get the stock moving.
637
00:33:46,119 --> 00:33:49,019
- I have many doubts.
- People should be buying this stock.
638
00:33:51,599 --> 00:33:54,599
{\an8}Let me say this about this.
I made a mistake here.
639
00:33:56,119 --> 00:33:57,160
{\an8}I was wrong.
640
00:33:58,400 --> 00:34:01,680
{\an8}I trusted this management team.
That was ill-advised.
641
00:34:09,840 --> 00:34:13,090
Thanks so much for watching.
We'll see you next week, good night !
58374
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