News & Politics

Demystifying the Wild World of Crypto | Laura Shin | TED

Is crypto truly the next big thing, or is it just a money-sucking flash in the pan? In a wide-ranging interview, journalist Laura Shin explains what crypto is (and what it definitely isn’t), taking us through the most recent turns in its constantly evolving story — including the recent meltdown caused by the bankruptcy of…

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Is crypto truly the next big thing, or is it just a money-sucking flash in the pan? In a wide-ranging interview, journalist Laura Shin explains what crypto is (and what it definitely isn’t), taking us through the most recent turns in its constantly evolving story — including the recent meltdown caused by the bankruptcy of FTX. (This conversation, hosted by TED tech curator Simone Ross, was part of an exclusive TED Membership event on November 30, 2022. Visit ted.com/membership to become a TED Member.)

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51 Comments

  1. Daniel Gaddis

    December 8, 2022 at 7:02 pm

    Oh boy imaginary money.. I want me some of that. It’s done wonders for El Salvador’s economy.

    • aceyage

      December 9, 2022 at 1:12 am

      Every fiat is based on trust and belief. Bitcoin is trustless hard money. Very different things.

  2. Oddly satisfying

    December 8, 2022 at 7:02 pm

    If Laura Shin is a proponent of decentralisation, than she should write an objective take on the cardano blockchain and stop promoting vc chains like solana

  3. Pfaeff

    December 8, 2022 at 7:05 pm

    It’s a scam. There, demystified in a couple of seconds.

  4. Make Racists Afraid Again

    December 8, 2022 at 7:11 pm

    No thank you.

  5. John Fabiani

    December 8, 2022 at 7:11 pm

    Value by virtue of everyone believing it has value. I’ll avoid.

    • Oddly satisfying

      December 8, 2022 at 10:03 pm

      Just like money works

  6. Broken Brain

    December 8, 2022 at 7:12 pm

    I view Bitcoin as a universal currency and tokens as currency specific to organizations offering a specialized software.

    Decentralization to me means that you can build a platform separate of any larger entity, and the value of said platform fluctuates with the token and not the stock market. This makes a corporation personal to individuals rather than investors.

    This is my perspective, and If I’m in the ballpark then feel free to expand on it.

    • Perceived Velocity

      December 8, 2022 at 7:16 pm

      Nobody is using crypto as a currency. It’s a unregulated stock market where you buy low and sell high. It has no value beyond trading

    • Broken Brain

      December 8, 2022 at 7:42 pm

      @Perceived Velocity My comment was on what I perceived it’s original purpose to be.

      Edit: although I started it with “I view” which doesn’t send that message.

      If I ever start a company, I’m going to create a token in the hopes that the value of my business fluctuates with that token. It will be an experiment so I’m probably going to start a second company that’s either private or publicly traded in the hopes that I can then fund the growth of my token operated company (ignore my lack of proper terminology; I’m nowhere near ready to do any of this).

    • E. Leon

      December 8, 2022 at 9:52 pm

      @Perceived Velocity this is factually wrong. There are many DAOs, for example, governed by weighted votes based on locking a token or tokens which are intentionally geared toward not being traded, and such DAOs have various physical world purposes. This is just one example which extends far beyond an emulation of stock trading.

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    December 8, 2022 at 7:13 pm

    *8:13:53** Let’s only take a moment to congratulate how much hours and work she placed into these vids!?*
    *It’s great, and I consider they deserve much more than that.* 😃

  8. 🔞 𝐘𝐎𝐔𝐑 𝐒𝐄𝐗 𝐏𝐀𝐑𝐓𝐍𝐄𝐑 💋 𝐋𝐈𝐕𝐄

    December 8, 2022 at 7:13 pm

    *8:13:53** Let’s only take a moment to congratulate how much hours and work she placed into these vids!?*
    *It’s great, and I consider they deserve much more than that.* 😃

  9. Perceived Velocity

    December 8, 2022 at 7:15 pm

    TED used to mean something. Nowadays it’s a platform for corporation’s and tech bro’s to sell their get rich quick schemes.

  10. Brian McInnis

    December 8, 2022 at 7:35 pm

    Of crypto-what?

  11. Andy Cordy

    December 8, 2022 at 7:50 pm

    I can see why people are fascinated but the whole thing sounds so perilous.

  12. Flora Davis

    December 8, 2022 at 7:55 pm

    The wisest thing that should be on everyone mind currently should be to invest in different streams of income that doesn’t depend on the govt. Especially with the current economic crisis around the world. This is still a good time to invest in Gold, silver and digital currencies(BTC, ETH..).

    • Scotty McCreery

      December 8, 2022 at 8:34 pm

      Please how can I contact Mrs. Jessy Crux ? I want to invest with her too.

    • Alex Miller

      December 8, 2022 at 8:35 pm

      She’s always Active on te le gram

    • Alex Miller

      December 8, 2022 at 8:35 pm

      @jessycrux

    • Scotty McCreery

      December 8, 2022 at 8:36 pm

      Thanks for her info I’ll get to her right away

    • Elizabeth Taylor

      December 8, 2022 at 8:37 pm

      Believe me she’s the best when it comes to Cryptocurrency trading, your profit is assured 💯

  13. CPP

    December 8, 2022 at 7:57 pm

    Right out of the gate misrepresenting the basics. The function of crypto is ABSOLUTELY as Fintech, the same old process and scams with a thin veneer of “new tech” to try and sidestep legal protections.

    Crypto as “more real time” is an insanely laughable take.

  14. Piepkwiep

    December 8, 2022 at 8:00 pm

    You need to separate crypto from Bitcoin. Bitcoin is open source, is totally decentralized, is owned by the community, is capped and has the only trustworthy monetary policy.

  15. ramro T V

    December 8, 2022 at 8:12 pm

    nic vedo

  16. Ema

    December 8, 2022 at 8:17 pm

    stop pushing this ponzi scheme !

  17. 💰 Make $750 Per Day

    December 8, 2022 at 8:55 pm

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  18. 👉 BUY YOUTUBE VIEWS 👉 Link in Bio

    December 8, 2022 at 9:39 pm

    how can you not like this video…

  19. E. Leon

    December 8, 2022 at 10:15 pm

    Sorry, not worth the time. In an hour you could load a VPN service, a decentralized wallet, learn a fiat currency on-ramp and bridge funds for transaction fees (gas) to any number of affordable blockchains (Fantom, Avalanche, Dogechain, Polygon, etc…) and begin using dApps to experientially learn what “crypto” really is, while engaging protocols via their resources on gitbook, Medium, Twitter, Telegram and Discord.

  20. Johannes Kurz

    December 8, 2022 at 10:15 pm

    Why is fin tech bad, just because it’s old?
    I need my money to be well integrated in my life, fast, cheap and secure.
    Also I want consumer protection, as banking is a commodity I don’t want to think about.

    How is crypto improving that?

  21. Darrell

    December 9, 2022 at 12:46 am

    Nope

  22. Yuting Li

    December 9, 2022 at 7:22 am

    How interesting wild world is!

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      December 9, 2022 at 11:35 am

      🔝
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      December 9, 2022 at 11:41 am

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    December 9, 2022 at 5:07 pm

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  24. Premium Fun

    December 9, 2022 at 5:26 pm

    I’d say that more emphasis should be put into day trading as it less affected by the unpredictable nature of the market. I made 5BTC from day trading with swissarex. They are step ahead of other analysis. More info on ig.

  25. Gail Spangler

    December 9, 2022 at 11:42 pm

    I’m sorry, she THINKS she’s explaining what Crypto is, but she’s not. I am still just as clueless as when I started watching this.

  26. Marcus Boswell

    December 10, 2022 at 2:39 am

    It’s gambling.
    I just saved you an hour.

  27. KryptoneKnight

    December 10, 2022 at 3:56 am

    Gee there are so many uneducated people here! Crypto assets & DLT are the future!

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      December 10, 2022 at 7:18 am

      Thanks for the comments 🤝, much appreciated I have something gratifying to present to you ……..

  28. John Lujan

    December 10, 2022 at 12:36 pm

    Is crypto essentially a digital medium of exchange whereby, at the end of the day, I could exchange it for traditional money or use it to purchase goods & services? I’m trying to grasp its appeal.

    • Mr Benana

      December 11, 2022 at 3:40 am

      Yes, it is finding uses in transfering value across international borders skipping the fees and long wait times of the SWYFT system. But outside of that and with no real legislation it hasn’t got much use case at the moment.

    • Kane

      December 12, 2022 at 3:37 am

      Short answer, yes. But it’s technology shares basically. Investing in certain technologies etc, alot are scams though

  29. Steve

    December 10, 2022 at 5:12 pm

    I cannot believe TED think in 2022 discusses crypto as being a possible sham.

  30. Jurjen Bos

    December 13, 2022 at 7:55 pm

    There are two kinds of people: those that believe in the possibilities of crypto, and those that understand it

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