Let's see how I'm strong and getty. Joe, welcome to it. Glad you are here. We've been talking about cryptocurrency, both seriously and joking about it. Sean, are you a multimillionaire yet? I can't remember? Not yet. Time. You're very hip to the uh, the tech thing, the cryptocurrency, the n f T S, the rest of it. I'm thinking of dipping my toe in and we'll do it advisedly. Ham's Shabon of the Washington Post writes about various things tech related and economics and that sort of thing, and joins us. Now, Hams, how are you. I'm well, thanks so much for having me. Oh, it's my pleasure. Thanks. You know, it's interesting. I know journalists don't write their own headlines, generally speaking. Um, the headline for your piece today is as cryptocurrency goes wild, fear grows about who might get hurt. Um, which I'm sure is true. But doesn't everybody kind of understand that it's a wild and volatile market at this point. I think I think a lot of investors are going in with their with their eyes open, and they're they're knowledgeable about the risks and how volatile cryptocurrencies can be, and maybe that's exactly what drew them in. But I think there's concerns from regulators and market observers that perhaps maybe there is a subset of traders and perhaps young people who just don't understand just how volatile it is, and maybe they think that, you know, there should be more education or increased scrutiny on this market to prevent the worst kinds of abuses and the worst kinds of losses for people. Okay, let's not get too hip for the room. I guess let's just do thirty seconds on what our cryptocurrencies. Sure, the simplest explanation is it's a digital money, and different coins do different things, but the basic technology is it's a way to record transactions and to store value and exchange information online. And whoever issues this currency assures people and it's it's enforced through blockchain. If you know what that is that they're not going to continually produce more and more and more. There's a fixed amount or a very slowly growing amount, so people know that there aren't going to go from ten thousand bitcoins to fifty million overnight. That's true for some some token, some tokens work by issuing a set amount on a certain time period, and there's a there's a finite supply, and that's part of the draw other coins there there's just an infinite amount and they'll just keep pumping them out. But but for bitcoin, that's certainly true. So we were talking about how volatile the market is. How volatile is it? So if you've been following the stock market, you know that you know some days that just traders can suffer brutal losses, and that even more true with crypto, where the prices can really go up and down on a wild roller coaster ryde But but part of the appeal for traders is that there is this risk. But that also means that you can gain so much even in a period of time, and we're talking about doublin tripling even like ten x, depending on when you invested. Well, you mentioned that doge coin is up ten tho percent this year. That's right, it's it's one of the one of the most astounding storylines in the crypto community. And yes, it used to be just fractions of a penny um just earlier this year, but it's it's gone on this amazing breathtaking run this year. And yes, if you were, if you were savvy enough or lucky enough to invest earlier, you you're sitting on enormous winnings. Um. And that's assuming you you had the nerve not to sell as well. How many got currencies are there? So? One website, uh, that that tracks cryptocurrencies has it at nearly ten thousand and yeah it's it's and if you if you go back in time, UM, there's been staggering growth um from just even a few years ago. And and and it's almost on a daily weekly basis, where new coins are coming out to try to jump on the excitement within the community. Listen, I'm not sure if you can answer this question ethically. I'm sure you'll find a way. But what are the what are the ones worth paying attention to? Are there? Like the heavy hitters? I mean, if there are nearly ten thousand cryptocurrencies, I'm gonna ignore most of them. Who are the heavy hitters? Yeah? So, so one one basic strategy that investors engage in is just looking at the coins that are most about. So. Um one website called coin market that tracks the market caps of different currencies. Um, they'll just have like a top ten list that you can see and that traders will go to those and um, just similar to stocks, if they want a a diverse prof portfolio, they'll invest a little bit among those top ten. But that's one way to for for traders who want to introduce themselves to different coins. They can just look at you know, which are the which are the biggest among that list. You know, totally flitted out of my mind. Uh producer positive Sean, if you want to cook up a question, let me ask one more and then if you have a question for hims and we'll do it. Uh So, one of the attractions I know of bitcoin, which was the first one I was familiar with and a lot of people were, was that transactions could take place outside the watchful eye of the government. And and everybody's mind always goes to drugs and illegal firearms or whatever. But just as a you know, a liberty loving guy, I kind of like the idea of the government doesn't have to know everything I'm doing. How likely or how how quickly is that eroding? How quickly is the government getting more and more oversight? What's happening on that level? So yeah, as you as you point out cryptocurrencies. Anonymity is part of the appeal and and from a from a tech and social and political standpoint, that's what draws in a lot of a lot of fans and a lot of endorsers. But yes, from from a legal and government perspective, that poses a challenge to regulators and to law enforcement agencies who don't want that kind of technology to be used by criminals to kind of hide from the eyes of the law. So that's that's one thing that is an unresolved tension in the world of crypto. How can you have this currency that promises anonymity but at the same time ensure that law enforcement in the government can can keep tabs on on bad actors and and help prevent crime. So yeah, that's a huge tension, and there's there is no answer right now. Chabon at the Washington Post is on the line positive Sean with a question just kind of a big picture cryptocurrency slash n f T kind of blocked adjacent stuff. It seems like because we're in this crazy wild West growth period of it um. From my amateur view, there seems to be kind of a bit of a pump and dump problem in general with n f T s where if you or cryptos as well, where you're an influencer with some sort of reach online, all of a sudden, I'm meant to coin and I buy it and then sell it to my fans quote unquote and then get out of it. And that's precisely my plan is there is there a way out of that outside of government regulation? It can can the crypto community kind of police itself in that way? From do you have any thoughts on that? Yeah, I think I think various communities that that center around different tokens, I think they already do that type of self policing. And and there there are criticisms towards that types of behavior because it kind of detracts from the legitimacy and it adds these arguments that this is like a SAS school for crime and the nefarious activity. But so yeah, there is a self regulating aspect to it. But that is something that the government officials are are taking a look at and observers are taking a look at, because it is it is dangerous that, you know, individuals or influencers can move the chrice massively just by you know, endorsing or or putting scorn on various coins. Now, at one point in the article you quote somebody from St. Mary's University who says that these if the crypto becomes even bigger and weaves its way more into you know, the the mainstream economy, it could cause it could pose systemic risk. What were they talking about. I've got the feeling that if I'm not in it, it's not gonna affect me. It doesn't matter. So she she was, Professor Walsh is is the person we're talking about. She was getting into this, Uh, this idea that as more and more financial institutions offer their clients crypto based products, that it becomes a bigger part of the overall economy, and that if one day or week or one period it takes a dive, that it will take other parts of the economy or other markets with it, and that can pose a risk to to the overall economy. So it's a yeah, as it grows grows more popular within the world of finance, it poses a bigger risk. Hamsa Chavon of the Washington Post really enjoying the conversation. A solid piece, and let's stay in touch on this topic. We'll do. Thank you so much for having me. Oh, it's our pleasure. Thank you, pleasant young man, enjoyed that. I'm I've made the decision. I'm gonna I'm gonna take a little share of the nest egg and the and throw it into a handful of cryptocurrencies. I haven't haven't talked to the wife about it yet, but teach me a while to work up my courage. I am I'm available to discuss should you should you want you? Before jumping in, sweetheart, I would like you to talk to positive Sean. He has a good idea. The first thing you need to know is block chains. I'm gonna say, honey, I would like to you to speak to my attorney, which is generally a poor thing to say to your wife. I am giving you power of attorney to convince my wife that this is a good idea. My my simplest advice at this point is to set up weekly or bi weekly purchases of the coins you want and kind of dollar cost average your way in there, similar to how your four oh one k does out of your page. Blah blah blah, No way going big both feet by ten dollars worth, have half a million tomorrow cash out. That is my p

Let's see how I'm strong and getty. Joe, welcome to it. Glad you are here. We've been talking about cryptocurrency, both seriously and joking about it. Sean, are you a multimillionaire yet? I can't remember? Not yet. Time. You're very hip to the uh, the tech thing, the cryptocurrency, the n f T S, the rest of it. I'm thinking of dipping my toe in and we'll do it advisedly. Ham's Shabon of the Washington Post writes about various things tech related and economics and that sort of thing, and joins us. Now, Hams, how are you. I'm well, thanks so much for having me. Oh, it's my pleasure. Thanks. You know, it's interesting. I know journalists don't write their own headlines, generally speaking. Um, the headline for your piece today is as cryptocurrency goes wild, fear grows about who might get hurt. Um, which I'm sure is true. But doesn't everybody kind of understand that it's a wild and volatile market at this point. I think I think a lot of investors are going in with their with their eyes open, and they're they're knowledgeable about the risks and how volatile cryptocurrencies can be, and maybe that's exactly what drew them in. But I think there's concerns from regulators and market observers that perhaps maybe there is a subset of traders and perhaps young people who just don't understand just how volatile it is, and maybe they think that, you know, there should be more education or increased scrutiny on this market to prevent the worst kinds of abuses and the worst kinds of losses for people. Okay, let's not get too hip for the room. I guess let's just do thirty seconds on what our cryptocurrencies. Sure, the simplest explanation is it's a digital money, and different coins do different things, but the basic technology is it's a way to record transactions and to store value and exchange information online. And whoever issues this currency assures people and it's it's enforced through blockchain. If you know what that is that they're not going to continually produce more and more and more. There's a fixed amount or a very slowly growing amount, so people know that there aren't going to go from ten thousand bitcoins to fifty million overnight. That's true for some some token, some tokens work by issuing a set amount on a certain time period, and there's a there's a finite supply, and that's part of the draw other coins there there's just an infinite amount and they'll just keep pumping them out. But but for bitcoin, that's certainly true. So we were talking about how volatile the market is. How volatile is it? So if you've been following the stock market, you know that you know some days that just traders can suffer brutal losses, and that even more true with crypto, where the prices can really go up and down on a wild roller coaster ryde But but part of the appeal for traders is that there is this risk. But that also means that you can gain so much even in a period of time, and we're talking about doublin tripling even like ten x, depending on when you invested. Well, you mentioned that doge coin is up ten tho percent this year. That's right, it's it's one of the one of the most astounding storylines in the crypto community. And yes, it used to be just fractions of a penny um just earlier this year, but it's it's gone on this amazing breathtaking run this year. And yes, if you were, if you were savvy enough or lucky enough to invest earlier, you you're sitting on enormous winnings. Um. And that's assuming you you had the nerve not to sell as well. How many got currencies are there? So? One website, uh, that that tracks cryptocurrencies has it at nearly ten thousand and yeah it's it's and if you if you go back in time, UM, there's been staggering growth um from just even a few years ago. And and and it's almost on a daily weekly basis, where new coins are coming out to try to jump on the excitement within the community. Listen, I'm not sure if you can answer this question ethically. I'm sure you'll find a way. But what are the what are the ones worth paying attention to? Are there? Like the heavy hitters? I mean, if there are nearly ten thousand cryptocurrencies, I'm gonna ignore most of them. Who are the heavy hitters? Yeah? So, so one one basic strategy that investors engage in is just looking at the coins that are most about. So. Um one website called coin market that tracks the market caps of different currencies. Um, they'll just have like a top ten list that you can see and that traders will go to those and um, just similar to stocks, if they want a a diverse prof portfolio, they'll invest a little bit among those top ten. But that's one way to for for traders who want to introduce themselves to different coins. They can just look at you know, which are the which are the biggest among that list. You know, totally flitted out of my mind. Uh producer positive Sean, if you want to cook up a question, let me ask one more and then if you have a question for hims and we'll do it. Uh So, one of the attractions I know of bitcoin, which was the first one I was familiar with and a lot of people were, was that transactions could take place outside the watchful eye of the government. And and everybody's mind always goes to drugs and illegal firearms or whatever. But just as a you know, a liberty loving guy, I kind of like the idea of the government doesn't have to know everything I'm doing. How likely or how how quickly is that eroding? How quickly is the government getting more and more oversight? What's happening on that level? So yeah, as you as you point out cryptocurrencies. Anonymity is part of the appeal and and from a from a tech and social and political standpoint, that's what draws in a lot of a lot of fans and a lot of endorsers. But yes, from from a legal and government perspective, that poses a challenge to regulators and to law enforcement agencies who don't want that kind of technology to be used by criminals to kind of hide from the eyes of the law. So that's that's one thing that is an unresolved tension in the world of crypto. How can you have this currency that promises anonymity but at the same time ensure that law enforcement in the government can can keep tabs on on bad actors and and help prevent crime. So yeah, that's a huge tension, and there's there is no answer right now. Chabon at the Washington Post is on the line positive Sean with a question just kind of a big picture cryptocurrency slash n f T kind of blocked adjacent stuff. It seems like because we're in this crazy wild West growth period of it um. From my amateur view, there seems to be kind of a bit of a pump and dump problem in general with n f T s where if you or cryptos as well, where you're an influencer with some sort of reach online, all of a sudden, I'm meant to coin and I buy it and then sell it to my fans quote unquote and then get out of it. And that's precisely my plan is there is there a way out of that outside of government regulation? It can can the crypto community kind of police itself in that way? From do you have any thoughts on that? Yeah, I think I think various communities that that center around different tokens, I think they already do that type of self policing. And and there there are criticisms towards that types of behavior because it kind of detracts from the legitimacy and it adds these arguments that this is like a SAS school for crime and the nefarious activity. But so yeah, there is a self regulating aspect to it. But that is something that the government officials are are taking a look at and observers are taking a look at, because it is it is dangerous that, you know, individuals or influencers can move the chrice massively just by you know, endorsing or or putting scorn on various coins. Now, at one point in the article you quote somebody from St. Mary's University who says that these if the crypto becomes even bigger and weaves its way more into you know, the the mainstream economy, it could cause it could pose systemic risk. What were they talking about. I've got the feeling that if I'm not in it, it's not gonna affect me. It doesn't matter. So she she was, Professor Walsh is is the person we're talking about. She was getting into this, Uh, this idea that as more and more financial institutions offer their clients crypto based products, that it becomes a bigger part of the overall economy, and that if one day or week or one period it takes a dive, that it will take other parts of the economy or other markets with it, and that can pose a risk to to the overall economy. So it's a yeah, as it grows grows more popular within the world of finance, it poses a bigger risk. Hamsa Chavon of the Washington Post really enjoying the conversation. A solid piece, and let's stay in touch on this topic. We'll do. Thank you so much for having me. Oh, it's our pleasure. Thank you, pleasant young man, enjoyed that. I'm I've made the decision. I'm gonna I'm gonna take a little share of the nest egg and the and throw it into a handful of cryptocurrencies. I haven't haven't talked to the wife about it yet, but teach me a while to work up my courage. I am I'm available to discuss should you should you want you? Before jumping in, sweetheart, I would like you to talk to positive Sean. He has a good idea. The first thing you need to know is block chains. I'm gonna say, honey, I would like to you to speak to my attorney, which is generally a poor thing to say to your wife. I am giving you power of attorney to convince my wife that this is a good idea. My my simplest advice at this point is to set up weekly or bi weekly purchases of the coins you want and kind of dollar cost average your way in there, similar to how your four oh one k does out of your page. Blah blah blah, No way going big both feet by ten dollars worth, have half a million tomorrow cash out. That is my p