Bill Maher used the “New Rules” part of Friday’s “Real Time” to rail against something that actually is pretty bad and should probably be dealt with: Cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin. Maher’s rant concerned both the economy-harming aspects of cryptocurrency and the severe environmental effects. “New rule: Nothing with ‘crypto’ in the title ever turns out good,” Bill Maher said at the starting of the bit.
“It’s just Easter Bunny cartoon cash.”
The Real Time talk show host ran host down a list of well-known cryptos like Bitcoin, ending the list by saying, “there’s also one called Dogecoin that someone started as a joke, but as far as I can tell, it’s exactly the same as all the other cryptocurrencies because the whole thing is a joke.” He criticized bitcoin for having no intrinsic value and consuming way too much energy. The boomer talk show host said he had crypto explained, but he did not understand. “It’s just Easter Bunny cartoon cash. I’ve read articles about cryptocurrency. I’ve had it explained to me, and I still don’t get it, and neither did you or anyone else,” he said during his anti-crypto segment.
Cryptocurrency is like Tinkerbell's light – its power source is based solely on enough children believing in it. And unfortunately what is real is that its growth could single-handedly push global temperatures above the tipping point of 2°C. #Bitcoin #Mining #ClimateChange pic.twitter.com/ZyPsuKdXEI
— Bill Maher (@billmaher) May 1, 2021
Crypto enthusiasts hit back at Bill Maher.
Bill Maher may be right about bitcoin using heavy energy, but most Bitcoin mining happens in remote areas of China where electricity is cheap and is powered by clean energy. And not all cryptocurrencies use “supercomputers” for mining. The current market cap of the entire crypto is above $2.23 trillion. Countries like Singapore and South Korea have already passed pro-crypto regulations to regulate the industry better instead of outright banning them. It is an indisputable argument that cryptocurrencies are here to stay, and it would be better to create regulations around them than to demonize the whole industry. Bill Maher is not the only “boomer” to criticize cryptocurrencies; several others, including Warren Buffet, have deemed bitcoin as “worthless.”
