Bitcoin got its 15 minutes of fame on US TV show Last Week Tonight, but it was likened to BitCoinnect while host John Oliver ridiculed Don Tapscott.
Comedian John Oliver tried to explain Bitcoin March 11 – with the help of a fake BitConnect promoter Carlos Matos and Don Tapscott comparing the Blockchain to a Chicken McNugget.
In the latest episode of the US-based host’s Last Week Tonight television show, Bitcoin, Blockchain and investing in cryptocurrency all came under the spotlight.
The feature comes just weeks after fellow US host Ellen DeGeneres attempted to explain Bitcoin to mainstream audiences, comparing it to a baby goat.
Oliver began by attempting to define the nature of decentralized networks, noting their advantages over banks in terms of cost and security, but the segment soon took a questionable turn.
Inviting the fake Matos to the stage, Oliver failed to question his investment advice. This included not “just blindly hodling” coins bought. The real Carlos Matos himself has been the face of de facto defunct BitConnect before appearing to U-turn on his support.
“The crypto market is extremely volatile and insufficiently regulated – they pump, they dump,” ‘Matos’ added.
BitConnect hit the headlines in January when it closed down almost its entire operation following revelations it was a suspected Ponzi scheme.
Prior to summoning his fake Matos, Oliver had shown a clip of a more reputable source in the form of investor Don Tapscott explaining why Bitcoin is so difficult to hack.
“The Blockchain is a highly-processed thing – sort of like a Chicken McNugget,” he said. “And if you wanted to hack, it’d be like turn a Chicken McNugget back into a chicken.”
Oliver described Tapscott’s words as an “extremely dumb metaphor.”
