[2018-02-16] Ellen DeGeneres explains bitcoin: 'You’ll either be a millionaire o

[Terraformer]

You know that moment when you're all talking about bitcoin but nobody really understands it? Well, TV host Ellen DeGeneres summed up that feeling perfectly Thursday.

The comedian took it upon herself to explain to her audience what the cryptocurrency actually is.

"Everybody is talking about bitcoin, nobody understands it," she said. "It's like a plot twist in a confusing movie, when you're watching a movie and your friends are acting like they know what's going on, and you're like, 'Yeah, I do too.'

"Pretend like bitcoin is a goat. Now it's adorable... and you want to pick it up and you want to pet it. But you can't because it's not there, it doesn't exist except for on that Internet right there, just like bitcoin is digital currency."

DeGeneres explained that bitcoin is like a stock market where people can make money off of it, but said that she'd "rather own a baby goat" than the cryptocurrency.

"Basically, if you invest in bitcoin, you'll either be a millionaire or you'll be totally broke," she said.

The TV host tweeted out the clip of her explanation.

DeGeneres is not far off in some senses. Bitcoin is indeed digital not physical. It is known as a "decentralized currency" because it is not issued by a central authority. Instead its maintenance relies on a network of computers and different participants.

It also is underpinned by a technology called blockchain, which is a public ledger of activity that is tamperproof.

Cryptocurrencies are known for their extreme volatility. The market recently saw a crash but has since recovered slightly, although many digital coins are still off their all-time highs.

Original video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LS2BMxeHsv8

https://www.cnbc.com/2018/02/16/ellen-degeneres-explains-bitcoin.html

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[steadyrice]

That statement basically means nothing, does it? "If you invest in (insert investment method), you either make or lose money." You don't say?

Although it is nice in terms of exposure that a celeb like Ellen DeGeneres tweets about bitcoin, the statement doesn't help explain the crypto concept to the layman at all.

[1Referee]

I'm getting sick and tired of this Bitcoin isn't issued by a central authority nonsense. Why does something always needs to be issued by a central authority? Because you pathetic beings can't take responsibility of managing your own value? Do you clowns even know what it means to actually own value instead of letting a bank 'guard' your wealth? This just shows how brainwashed most of the people in the world are by their governments and central banks. Another important fact that is being discarded here, is that if you buy Bitcoin, you always have your coins (asset value), regardless of what the price is. It's another sign that people are stuck in this fiat system. Good job in making yourself look like an idiot, Ellen!

[Variogam]

Actually understanding how Bitcoin works is easier than understanding how fiat works. Once you understand what blockchain is, then Bitcoin public ledger works as layman expect. On the other hand fiat closed ledger is harder to understand to a layman, thanks to fraction reserve mechnism where banks can loan units which were not presented in the ledger - which is counter-intuitive.

[hatshepsut93]

That statement basically means nothing, does it? "If you invest in (insert investment method), you either make or lose money." You don't say?

Although it is nice in terms of exposure that a celeb like Ellen DeGeneres tweets about bitcoin, the statement doesn't help explain the crypto concept to the layman at all.

This is actually very close to what Satoshi once said: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=48.msg329#msg329

Bitcoin is either revolutionary technology that will make early adopters crazy rich if they hodl it for long time, or will fail and make people who went all in broke. I think that there might actually be a third possibility - Bitcoin might have limited usability in the future, being a niche currency for people who value privacy and sovereignty over convenience.

[Kprawn]

Guys we need to get someone onto this to educate her. Active on Twitter since August 2008, Ellen DeGeneres made it to

having a whopping 76,884,338 Twitter followers and to being ranked 7 for number of followers among all Twitter users.

If we can get her to understand Bitcoin and what a impact this technology can have, then we will gain a lot of ground. What

is the chances of getting Andreas or someone with some sound knowledge of Bitcoin to appear on her show? Or some young

person, who became a millionaire because of Bitcoin? 

[francoise]

I doubt how much she knows about cryptocurrency. Looks to me more like a social talk than anything real or serious about bitcoin.

[Slow death]

This is an unpleasant joke:

Ellen DeGeneres explains bitcoin: 'You’ll either be a millionaire or you’ll be totally broke'

People do not have to buy bitcoin with the intensity of being millionaires, rich or because they want 2x, 4x, or 8x profits ... people can buy bitcoin if they want to make purchases with more privacy and if they look for something decentralized, they do not have to be investors, when someone says words like these: You’ll either be a millionaire or you’ll be totally broke, this scares people and many people may think that bitcoin is some ponzi scheme or gambling... I like her program, but she should call technical experts to explain the technical aspects (she could have called someone from Bitcoin Core to this function ) and she should have also called some analyst who could be someone from the bitcoin foundation

Looks to me more like a social talk than anything real or serious about bitcoin.

and she is inducing people to think badly about bitcoin

[RodeoX]

Well, shes a comedian not a cryptographer.

[Slow death]

Well, shes a comedian not a cryptographer.

[BitHodler]

Guys we need to get someone onto this to educate her. Active on Twitter since August 2008, Ellen DeGeneres made it to

having a whopping 76,884,338 Twitter followers and to being ranked 7 for number of followers among all Twitter users.

If we can get her to understand Bitcoin and what a impact this technology can have, then we will gain a lot of ground.

No. She needs to stay away from anything having to do with crypto. It's very simple, I don't know anything about baseball, why should I talk random nonsense about baseball just to look cool? It only makes me look bad.

In the same way, she shouldn't talk about Bitcoin. People need to stick to what they do the best, and know the most of within their interest field. If you don't have anything to say, then a simple solution is to not say anything at all.

Crypto goes far beyond what most people here and outside this community think. The price is nothing more than just one relative aspect. But yes, an aspect that gets the most attention from the general public.

[Qartersa]

You know that moment when you're all talking about bitcoin but nobody really understands it? Well, TV host Ellen DeGeneres summed up that feeling perfectly Thursday.

The comedian took it upon herself to explain to her audience what the cryptocurrency actually is.

"Everybody is talking about bitcoin, nobody understands it," she said. "It's like a plot twist in a confusing movie, when you're watching a movie and your friends are acting like they know what's going on, and you're like, 'Yeah, I do too.'

"Pretend like bitcoin is a goat. Now it's adorable... and you want to pick it up and you want to pet it. But you can't because it's not there, it doesn't exist except for on that Internet right there, just like bitcoin is digital currency."

DeGeneres explained that bitcoin is like a stock market where people can make money off of it, but said that she'd "rather own a baby goat" than the cryptocurrency.

"Basically, if you invest in bitcoin, you'll either be a millionaire or you'll be totally broke," she said.

The TV host tweeted out the clip of her explanation.

DeGeneres is not far off in some senses. Bitcoin is indeed digital not physical. It is known as a "decentralized currency" because it is not issued by a central authority. Instead its maintenance relies on a network of computers and different participants.

It also is underpinned by a technology called blockchain, which is a public ledger of activity that is tamperproof.

Cryptocurrencies are known for their extreme volatility. The market recently saw a crash but has since recovered slightly, although many digital coins are still off their all-time highs.

Original video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LS2BMxeHsv8

https://www.cnbc.com/2018/02/16/ellen-degeneres-explains-bitcoin.html

Just so we could avoid misapprehension of facts, let me discuss my comments on the above shortly:

1) "Basically, if you invest in bitcoin, you'll either be a millionaire or you'll be totally broke." -- Let me be clear that this only happens when you invest your ENTIRE money to Bitcoin. If not, you will not lose it in this investment alone. Perhaps, who in the right mind would invest their all in ONE investment alone? I think that is just outright irresponsible. That will leave you with either absolutely everything or nothing. I do not subscribe to going all out with one investment only.

2) Ellen, while she is successful in her own field, may not know much about Bitcoin. Let us give it to her. You know, Bitcoin is not for everyone; and, let us respect our differences along with our varying opinions.

[Kemarit]

Oh well, at least bitcoin got some publicity, either negative or positive. I'm pretty sure that she doesn't know anything about bitcoin, but just like any media outlets nowadays, they are all riding in the popularity of bitcoin and crypto for that matter.

That statement basically means nothing, does it? "If you invest in (insert investment method), you either make or lose money." You don't say?

Although it is nice in terms of exposure that a celeb like Ellen DeGeneres tweets about bitcoin, the statement doesn't help explain the crypto concept to the layman at all.

Exactly, actually it just make it worst and her explanation is garbage. I don't follow her so I'm not sure if someone has answered back and say's that her premise is very wrong in the beginning. And this statement is a total giveaway.

"Basically, if you invest in bitcoin, you'll either be a millionaire or you'll be totally broke," she said.

She doesn't really know a single thing how cypto's work. LOL. Someone should tweet back and say's "Invest what you can afford to lose" so that you won't get busted.

[CryptoBry]

I understand that anything new might be hard to understand or explain especially if one is related to technology not yet explored that much by the mainstream population. However, the reason for this present ignorance about Bitcoin is the lack of time or focus to dig more information bout it which are all available now online.

Maybe Ellen should try to compare Bitcoin not to a goat but the many digital games we played or maybe Farmville where we grow things digitally...it is there but in digital form. Or maybe just an eBook the book is there but we could not hold it but since we can read it then we just accept it as a real book. The same thing with digital money called as Bitcoin.

[superjeyy]

This is an unpleasant joke:

Ellen DeGeneres explains bitcoin: 'You’ll either be a millionaire or you’ll be totally broke'

People do not have to buy bitcoin with the intensity of being millionaires, rich or because they want 2x, 4x, or 8x profits ... people can buy bitcoin if they want to make purchases with more privacy and if they look for something decentralized, they do not have to be investors, when someone says words like these: You’ll either be a millionaire or you’ll be totally broke, this scares people and many people may think that bitcoin is some ponzi scheme or gambling... I like her program, but she should call technical experts to explain the technical aspects (she could have called someone from Bitcoin Core to this function ) and she should have also called some analyst who could be someone from the bitcoin foundation

Looks to me more like a social talk than anything real or serious about bitcoin.

and she is inducing people to think badly about bitcoin

Ellen is considered to be someone who is very influential and for her to leave remarks as such just gives a certain aspect of the whole picture. She failed to genuinely conceptualize what Bitcoin is and people like her who is very popular can instanly give a wrong notion about this platform making other people have the same perspective. This is why I believe and agree with Strong death with regards to his feels about Ellen's statement. This is why education is important. Bitcoin is not just an investment, it is capable of being flexible to provide other services. Wishing that more people would know the true concept of Bitcoin and would justify its structure rightfully.

[richardsNY]

I understand that anything new might be hard to understand or explain especially if one is related to technology not yet explored that much by the mainstream population.

I really don't understand why people find it difficult to figure out the very basics of Bitcoin. You don't have to dive into the inner core aspects of Bitcoin, which actually requires a decent level of technical knowledge, but just the basics are enough to get you up and running. More than the very basics people don't need to just send transactions back and forth. I have seen various videos where Bitcoin gets explained properly in easy to understand language, that even a non technical person should be able to understand. If after that you still don't understand Bitcoin's basic principles, I seriously don't know what's wrong with people....