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[–]gizram84 342 points343 points  (26 children)

Not the greatest sales pitch I've ever heard, but fuck it, I'll take it.

[–][deleted]  (11 children)


    [–]Lexsteel11 58 points59 points  (8 children)

    I feel like he was struggling to not get too into the weeds; i think he knows a lot more than is in this clip Edit: I meant to comment this on the parent comment, not yours, but whatever haha

    [–]Bitcoin1776 19 points20 points  (5 children)

    Ya, in terms of persuasion and covering what's necessary, he is far better than Andreas or most BTC peoples. Do you see how 'non sales pitchy' he sounds?

    Akon is not begging you to buy Bitcoin, he's not rejecting his environment and dominating the conversation with a level of Bitcoin talk which only he can appreciate... he's interacting with others, respecting their personage, and he's providing the bare-minimum information necessary so that you can derive maximum benefit, and moving on.

    It's one thing to suggest men need tons of meat and it's another to dress up in a meat costume burning legumes. One can be casually interjected into day to day comings and goings, and the other gets you banned from social events as an extremist. Extremists are like squishy dolls that only say "good job buying Bitcoin, you a good boy", whereas Akon sounds balanced, attractive, and socially fit.

    Another advocate that I wish got more attention is Russell Okung, the linemen for the LA Chargers. His advocacy to other professional footballers, and to those interested in football will generate more interest in Bitcoin then I ever will - that should get recognized more, when it comes to 'celebrities' in Bitcoin.

    [–]GrilledCheezzy 2 points3 points  (3 children)

    That Russell okung post indicated it is an etoro ad in reality. Which kind of takes the real air out of it but it’s still good for the space.

    Edit: see this twitter account and their tweets. https://mobile.twitter.com/bitcoinis_

    [–]Bitcoin1776 2 points3 points  (2 children)

    Russel is so invested into Bitcoin, he sponsored a "meet the Chargers and discuss Bitcoin" event in LA. He paid some speaking fees for like Goldstein and so on to show up, to make sure it was a real Bitcoin event and to spread the wealth within the community.

    Then, after that, he launched "monday night Bitcoin" discussion, where he talks football and gives away Bitcoin prizes. These prizes are paid for by eToro.

    It's far more likely football fans will get into Bitcoin because of Russell, then Bitcoin'ers will get into football (except for me, I'm going to buy one of his jersey haha) - the whole 'you got to lose money to prove you're honest' thing isn't really that accurate, most who suggest they are doing that are scamming you.

    "If they tell you it ain't about the money, it's only about the money" - Nassim Taleb on slimeball identification

    [–]GrilledCheezzy 1 point2 points  (1 child)

    That’s awesome. I was just going off what I saw in front of me and I’m not a football fan to really follow him. But that’s all great news. Anyone in the mainstream promoting it is going to be super helpful.

    [–]Bitcoin1776 0 points1 point  (0 children)

    Ya, I now have something to talk about with my football friends haha...

    [–]FL_RM_Grl 0 points1 point  (0 children)

    Yep, that other guy assumed that the USA still has gold backing up all our $. He lacked an understanding of “value”. I think Akon gave him just enough to help him understand.

    [–]MexicanRedditor 3 points4 points  (1 child)

    This. Whenever I go "all out" and explain Bitcoin to anyone under 15 minutes, I always leave an impression that I am a lunatic. Akon kept it mellow.

    [–]milkman1218 38 points39 points  (0 children)

    At least he somewhat gets it. The other people thought we still had gold backing our dollar!

    [–]IQ74 49 points50 points  (5 children)

    I thought he did a decent job of selling it in laymans terms. The basic concept is more security and not attached to any government/political system and he hit both those points.

    [–]mountassar97 -3 points-2 points  (4 children)

    Judging by your username, you needed a layman terms explanation UwU

    [–]IQ74 35 points36 points  (3 children)

    Indeed I prefer laymans terms whenever possible. What I have realized is that really smart people are usually trying to dumb things down so others can understand. It is the people that make simple concepts seem complicated that are usually full of shit and just trying to sound smart.

    [–]WalksOnLego 10 points11 points  (2 children)

    Now your comment is backed by gold.

    edit: blah blah blah I had a lot to say, to resonate with and expand on your comment, but I think you've said it all.

    [–]IQ74 3 points4 points  (0 children)

    My first gold. This is where I am supposed to thank you but I refuse :)

    After reading the explanation from Reddit I totally don't understand the benefit of gold and the members only r/lounge sounds like a hangout for virgins :)

    [–]furythree 0 points1 point  (0 children)

    Now his comment has more value than the us dollar

    [–]forshiggityredditor for 3 months 28 points29 points  (0 children)

    Yeah me too. Ultimately you have to have a decent understanding of a few different facets of the World: the history of banks/fiat currencies, finance, monetary policy, central banking, cryptography, exchange set commodity values, computer science/code devs, etc. Theres a certain amount of pre-requisite knowledge that one must have in order to full understand why Bitcoin is important and it's hard to pack that into a few moments of general dialogue without being all over the place and sounding crazy. He did a good job at hitting on some key points while speaking at a level his audience could understand.

    [–]McCoovy 7 points8 points  (0 children)

    I mean it takes some serious chops to sell the "blockchain adds intrinsic value" pitch. He successfully cleared up some confusion around the USD still being on the gold standard and its adequate to say that the value of a currency is whatever people agree it is.

    [–]ysamy120 2 points3 points  (0 children)

    Ehh. It was decent. For an audience that knows nothing about it or fiat currency, it was decent.

    [–]danmarx 1 point2 points  (0 children)

    Better than nothing

    [–]e346eredditor for 3 months 2 points3 points  (1 child)

    Exactly. Akon gets it but lacks the ability to teach it.

    [–]SpaceDuckTech 2 points3 points  (0 children)

    Its one thing to sit in your chair by yourself and explain it out loud and think you sound like a genius.

    But when you are in front of someone and they start throwing out random comments or questions... it breaks your flow and unless you have thought of the question ahead of time and thought of a good response, doing it on the fly is a lot harder than it seems.

    [–]BashCo[S] 78 points79 points  (4 children)

    Apparently he has his own cryptocurrency, "Akoin" lol.

    Full show: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HERTlVMd1QI

    [–]RallyUp 7 points8 points  (0 children)

    if Kanye ever touches anything related to crypto after murdering Coinye dead in it's crib.. so help me Yeezus I will burn all my 350s, delete Yandhi off my playlists and start worshipping Satan with Lil Uzi

    [–]BradlyL 16 points17 points  (0 children)


    [–]parakite 0 points1 point  (0 children)

    Can I start calling it scamcoin now, or do I have to wait till it becomes politically correct?

    [–]Chakra_Scientist 94 points95 points  (0 children)

    Akon has really done alot for humanitarian efforts. He's a true professional. From bringing electrcity to millions in Africa, to speaking at places like Milken Institute conference about important topics. He is a great guy. His music is great too.

    [–]NASA_Lies 64 points65 points  (0 children)

    he (Akon) actually did a really good job, I’m honestly impressed.

    [–]mikebones 12 points13 points  (0 children)

    The fact that this dude still thought gold backed the dollar is the reason I worry about our society.

    [–]crapmaster27 20 points21 points  (2 children)

    Andreas Antonopoulos should insert "you know what I'm saying" here and there to connect more to ordinary people.

    [–]bluntrollin 20 points21 points  (0 children)

    Akon is just flying over peoples heads. They don't even get that the dollar's value or bitcoins value is market driven. They dont understand the backing of currency. He did an excellent job explaining high level concepts to 3rd graders.

    [–]hipaces 16 points17 points  (13 children)

    It's hard for me to put myself outside of the crypto space. Why do non-crypto people get so caught up in arguing over the value of a USD vs. a bitcoin?

    Have they been programmed by the media to do this? Is it holding on to something comfortable like the USD?

    It just seems like arguments of "why is 1 USD worth 1 USD" in relation to Bitcoin end up going around in circles.

    [–]SteezyWheezredditor for 2 months 11 points12 points  (6 children)

    I think you're right, it has a lot to do with the media. Idk, I think people have been told their whole lives that the US dollar has power. It's also a physical touch. Not knowing the dollar isn't backed by gold anymore is super common, as is not knowing about inflation/deflation. The dollar is powerful, it's all they've ever known. I think it's just hard for people that wrap their heads around the value of a Bitcoin.

    [–]hipaces 2 points3 points  (4 children)

    I like your point about "physical touch". To that end, small kids (5 & under) will probably understand Bitcoin more easily because they're growing up in a world where they physically handle money very rarely. Very bullish social setting for crypto.

    [–]clevariant 0 points1 point  (3 children)

    Interesting point about the five and under people. To really understand bitcoin, you have to understand data structures and distributed systems, plus the nuances of crypto security, which I don't think a five-year-old typically would. So my question is, what aspect of bitcoin do you think kids are better able to grok?

    [–]hipaces 2 points3 points  (2 children)

    Better at conceptualizing a virtual commodity. They live (or will live) more of their lives in the virtual world. For example, to my 3 year old, “play a song” means touch a few sections of a glass screen on my iPhone. Conversely, play a song to my generation involved physical objects like buttons, knobs, CDs, opening & closing etc.

    So the kids who are very young now will grow up to be more at ease with “things” that only exist in the virtual realm.

    [–]clevariant 1 point2 points  (1 child)

    That makes sense. So you're saying even though dollars aren't real things either, except for the coins and bills representing a fraction of them, anyone over five will still tend to think of the dollar as a physical entity.

    [–]hipaces 0 points1 point  (0 children)

    Correct. I'm thinking that, generally speaking, the older a person is the more they remember the feeling of coins jingling in their pocket. They have many more memories of paying for items with physical dollars. Heck, even the act of writing a check & then balancing the checkbook has a more tactile feel to it. That could be why it's hard for them to conceptualize a form of money that has no physical properties whatsoever.

    [–]furythree 1 point2 points  (0 children)

    It has alot to the bad actors in the crypto space. The scammer, the bubbles, the pyramid schemes and icos which all reduce the public trust in a system

    Granted the same applies to the fiat dollar, but you sprinkle a layer of technology called blockchain and it's enough of a barrier for people that their eyes glaZe over. What Akon did well is disregard the technology side. The importance is its benefits and similarities

    Similarities being it's like swiping a credit card and driven by market value. But differences in security

    [–]mrinvertigo 3 points4 points  (1 child)

    Because people hardly understand why a dollar is worth a dollar other than they can get a chocolate bar with it so it MUST be worth something.

    The first step to understanding cryptocurrency for your avg person is understanding how a USD works then expanding from there.

    [–]_open 2 points3 points  (0 children)

    Honestly, I understand more about how Blockchains work than USD.

    The concept of the USD is so fucking abstract. Every year the government gets shut down and they discuss on what number to set the next limit on. They just print more of it and inflate the whole market. Meanwhile random Joe is happy about his 5% salary raise and doesn't even realize that his dollar is worth 5% less. It's all just numbers and it seems to me that they are just psychologically playing with the people.

    I'm not American btw. I'm Swiss and every year we have a shitton of profits. It took me a while to realise that it's very uncommon for a country to have profit and I just don't understand in what world a country can just decide to raise an imaginary number to justify their expenses. Probably only because it's government controlled and they make the rules.

    Tell me if I got something wrong, I'm an engineer in the first place and have no clue about money at all. This whole concept of FIAT money just seems abstract as fuck and doesn't make sense to me.

    [–]clevariant 2 points3 points  (0 children)

    Well, it is the world standard currency, backed by several generations of consensus. I'm not pretending the dollar has any intrinsic value, but it's still a good point of reference.

    [–]420BongHitsForJesus 2 points3 points  (0 children)

    Because USD is a common means of exchange that is understood by most people. They understand what it generally will buy unlike a bitcoin which can vary thousands of dollars in months.

    [–]nyaaaa 1 point2 points  (0 children)

    Because you talk to non crypto people in that medium.

    [–]Elum224 1 point2 points  (0 children)

    The value of money is a hard concept to understand, and since we use money every day it's a thing we think we understand but we don't. Mostly people conflate "price" and "value", like they did in that video.
    I find the easiest way to separate the two concepts, in a way that people are familiar with is gift vouchers. A $10 gift voucher has a price of $10, but if it's for a candle shop, not everyone will value it at $10. A $10 Walmart voucher might have more value than a candle shop voucher, but still less than a $10 bill.
    A $10 bill is not worth $10, it represents $10 of value. Conversation goes easier once you identify that notes are representative tokens.

    [–]ApoBatoKellogg 3 points4 points  (0 children)

    “I wanna fud you fud you... you already know.”

    [–]j_aurelius123 36 points37 points  (26 children)

    This nigga Akon, is trying to revolutionize the African continent by helping convert them to crypto. He’s sitting down with African presidents trying to figure out how to break away from the neo colonization of the French who holds 50% of the treasuries to African wealth. France is a shit country, they would be a 3rd world country if they weren’t extracting Africa’s wealth.

    [–]braised_diaper_shit 30 points31 points  (3 children)

    France is a shit country

    This sort of rhetoric isn't productive man. 99.9999% of French people have nothing to do with unfairly extracting wealth from Africa. Something tells me you're sitting in a country whose elite and government exploit other nations.

    [–]Greed1505 13 points14 points  (2 children)

    France as an institution is still exploiting Africa. I agree with you that most French aren't aware of the damage done but their ignorance doesn't make them less responsible because they still benefit from these ressources.

    [–]nassimmontreal 5 points6 points  (0 children)

    Are Americans aware about stolen ressources by their government in Middle-East based on untrue and fictional threats? Do they benefit from ressources of native people lands? Slaves they exploited?

    Everyone is aware about current western countries supremacy, in general. So what can we do? Buy bitcoin.

    [–]AisbeforeB 0 points1 point  (0 children)

    Multiple imperialistic nations have in the past exploited and are currently exploiting Africa. Africaans have a long history of exploiting each other as well. Akon making 'deals' with asian and middle eastern countries to bring power to poor african nations is text book imperial scheme to come in as friend, promise a good deal, then slowly morph into debt collector when said poor nation eventually defaults. Akon is simply a pawn to the greater powers that be. Read confessions of an economic hitman to see the parallels.

    [–]OccultOpossom 6 points7 points  (0 children)

    Most of Akons philanthropy in Africa is a front for Chinese financial imperialism. All the money "donated" for infrastructure has to be paid back with interest.

    [–]McFaddenANDMorris 10 points11 points  (4 children)

    I mean they would definitely not be a 3rd world country but, yeah they have a fucked up history of looting natural resources, but so does like every other major European nation.

    [–]Taubi 8 points9 points  (2 children)

    OP is probably referencing the exploitation of African countries by modern day France, where the monetary policies are tightly controlled by France.

    It's explained better in this video

    [–]yoshi105 2 points3 points  (0 children)

    So basically, unless Akon is a shill we should expect him to be in an "accident" sometime soon?

    [–]swifty84 3 points4 points  (13 children)

    I think “this dude Akon” would have sufficed

    [–]j_aurelius123 4 points5 points  (11 children)

    Sorry, if that word offends you, but I don’t give a fuck so get over it.

    [–]swifty84 5 points6 points  (1 child)

    Oh it doesn’t offended me. I grew up in nyc and grew up using it. Just didn’t see a need for it here. Ah well whatever.

    [–]j_aurelius123 7 points8 points  (0 children)

    Alright, my bad.

    [–]paddavoet -1 points0 points  (7 children)

    I'm pretty sure anti-racist groups and most governments as well as law enforcement agencies give a fuck.... So you should (but probably wont, as a rebellious outburst to being confronted) be a little less cavalier about it. Its easy for one to say they don't give a fuck, until it costs them prison time, or worse, personal harm.

    Don't be so aggressively defensive when someone is rightly correcting your racist or insensitive statements. Just learn, apologize (optional, but preferable), and move on.

    /u/swifty84 , I agree with you bro, even if his slur was not racially inspired, his retort to your comment now makes seem like it is.

    /u/j_aurelius123 , there were many ways you could have chosen to respond to a comment about your bad choice of words, but you Sir, chose poorly.

    [–]j_aurelius123 12 points13 points  (4 children)

    I’m black. This is how I talk... I’m commenting on another black man, using black terms. Sorry if that offends you, but I’m not changing my cultural communication to fit your needs.

    [–]mrinvertigo 0 points1 point  (1 child)

    updoot for the Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade reference.

    [–]paddavoet 1 point2 points  (0 children)

    Thank you Sir, I really hoped someone would get it. I even typed it out in his voice XD

    [–]MeCe3 1 point2 points  (0 children)


    [–]parakite 0 points1 point  (1 child)

    Africa needs more sons of soil like Mugabe.

    [–]WhatTheFuckDude420 4 points5 points  (0 children)

    The talk show host doesn't seem to know that much about trade or economics lol

    [–]NimbleBodhi 2 points3 points  (0 children)

    If nothing else, even if people don't like bitcoin or cryptos, at the very least it gets them thinking about and questioning what money actually is and where does it value come from, and that is a BIG step in the right direction for our society.

    [–]chillingniples 2 points3 points  (0 children)

    So seems to me even if BTC is fully adopted it will likely continue to be as unexplainable to the layman as fully adopted fiat money is today lol.

    [–]CaffeineDrip 2 points3 points  (0 children)

    But what does Ja Rule think?

    [–]Bairat 1 point2 points  (0 children)

    As a matter of fact human time and creativity are the ultimate real value, represented by fair currency, commonly precious metals and soon to be crypto; your time is the true wealth! so never give it out except for others' time! through precious metals or eventually crypto. we are in a tight stage and should be ready for major corrections in the society.

    [–]Baby-Universe 1 point2 points  (0 children)

    The VALUE is not only up the people, MINING is like solving a equation, and the more is being mined the harder the equation will be to solve. THAT‘S why the value is rising more and more, because it gets harder and harder to mine them bitcoins. In the beginning a regular computer was enough, but now you literally need computer FARMS to be able to get some. PEACE! ;-)

    [–]Tiny_Frog 1 point2 points  (0 children)

    I could never have given such a cool talk about Bitcoin. Everything he says is true, so I respect this take on why Bitcoin is good. :)

    [–]whodatmanatariz 1 point2 points  (0 children)

    I love Akon, this makes me love him even more. Loved his music, loved what he did with his money, and love that he can see it.

    [–]domas_dranginis 1 point2 points  (0 children)

    I don't believe in any post-ICO smart-ass who now is a wannabe Bitcoiner...

    [–]allkindanuts 1 point2 points  (0 children)

    remember when akon got hit with a water bottle and then got the crowd to point out the guy who did it...? then he invited the dude on stage.. and literally picked him up and threw him off the stage face first

    [–]TonySolarredditor for 5 weeks 1 point2 points  (0 children)

    I've got my BTC. How about you?

    [–]MrBachelorSays 1 point2 points  (0 children)

    You know what I am saying.....HODL

    [–]TrickzSE5 1 point2 points  (0 children)

    He didn't explain this great, but at least he is out here showing people why they should. I mean if Akon is talking about it then more normal people will be interested. It was good of the Breakfast club to actually push this.

    [–]fourhorsemen89 1 point2 points  (0 children)

    I always liked Akons music now I like his views on money and BTC Aswell

    [–]ganesh248 1 point2 points  (0 children)

    Ya know wattamn sayn!!!

    [–]plex0r 1 point2 points  (0 children)

    I mean i have bitcoin and trade it etc but he sounds stupid and confused

    [–]Onre405 1 point2 points  (0 children)

    This is a real meeting of the minds....

    [–]tongariaredditor for 2 weeks 1 point2 points  (0 children)

    Respect 😎

    [–]cheese4352 1 point2 points  (17 children)

    I've been following Bitcoin since late 2016, and I still don't understand it. Late 2016 a bitcoin was worth around $700, late 2017 it jumped up to $19k, late 2018 it went down to $3,500 and now its around $10k. This is the most volatile thing I have ever seen.

    If you bought a bitcoin when it was $19k, you're currently in the hole $9k. What exactly is the benefit of this system, if the value can decrease by that much?

    [–]parakite 1 point2 points  (11 children)

    Fair question, but there definitely are more volatile stocks, if you started to look.

    And given the overall increase from $700 to $10k that you have seen, its obvious that its not going to happen totally linearly. Some volatility is expected. And $19k/$3k is that volatility.

    Basic math will tell you that this is expected volatility for 13x growth.

    [–]cheese4352 0 points1 point  (10 children)

    No doubt about that, there are alot of volatile stocks that exist. But there are a lot of factors that go into purchasing a stock than just how volatile it is. Things such as yearly revenue, operating expenses, cash flow, yield, year to date returns. Bitcoin has none of this, how is the value even determined, like the one guy stated his pen was worth like 10 thousand. Is it? Who's determining its value? The people who are about to raid Area 51? Florida Man?

    The more I think about it, the more I'm reminded of Communism, and we all know how well that works on paper when compared to actual implementation.

    [–]4thelove0fthegam3 0 points1 point  (9 children)

    All money is a communal agreement that some weird paper with drawings of pyramids on it is valuable. Is all money communist? If we all stop believing money is valuable, it becomes worthless. Its only valuable if we can get other people to give us goods and services for it. Otherwise whats it for?

    So it really is all a faith based system, isnt it? Regardless of what currency youre using? Whether its the united states dollar or the Bolivar? If people dont want the money then its useless. If they do then its not. What are the fundamentals of the united states dollar- its valuable because of the country where its used, united states. So if the us was gone it wouldnt be valuable.

    And your argument is something like because bitcoin has no "home" in the way USD has the united states, it has no fundamentals and isnt valuable. And is communist. I disagree though, what difference would it make if btc came from some specific place. I think thats a fallacy- theres no one holding a gun to my head demanding that i percieve USD as valuable- so its really not protected at all. Same as BTC. Yes. BTC is crazy. It seems like the value could drop at any moment right.. Ands its true- BUT no more true than it is for USD. All of these systems are the same. We, me and you, determine its value.

    BTC could drop overnight if everyone decided it was worthless.

    The exact same is true of USD or literally any other currency. If everyone decides a currency is worthless, it becomes worthless. Immediately. You cannot use it at the store if everyone decides its worthless. Its garbage. Thats it. It's over. It only works as long as everyone is in agreement that it works.

    [–]cheese4352 0 points1 point  (8 children)

    Paper money is weird when you think of it that way. It is kind of like trust, but the same applies to bitcoin, trust its value.

    The USd and other paper money value isn't just based on the country its from. It's based on the economic standing of said country, the companies that reside within it, their products, natural resources, etc. The dollar is backed by assets, revenue, military might, trade, political figures and a banking system. All of these systems work in tanjen,whether they intend to or not, to maintain the value of their currency. They aren't directly deciding the dollar is worth a certain amount, its determined by the supply of the dollar, how much is printed, as well as the demand of it from within the country itself, and countries across the planet.

    People are deciding the value of the dollar even when they don't realize it. If you buy something American, you are reinforcing that currency. If you travel to the usa, again, you are reinforcing the value of the systems backing it.

    The key difference which I can ascertain, is that both the dollar and bitcoin are backed by people. People are determining its value in incremental ways. With bitcoin, the average person has all the power and can influence it to a far greater extent, with the dollar, the average person still influences it, but to a lesser extent.

    But, that's all the bitcoin has backing it. It has o military, it has no assets, it has no domestic or export trades, it has no companies with global presence, it has no natural resources. The dollar has all these things standing behind it, including people, while bitcoin just has people standing behind it.

    The only benefit I can see with bitcoin, is it cuts out the middle man(bankers). Who likes a middle man?

    [–]4thelove0fthegam3 0 points1 point  (7 children)

    USD is backed by the military in the same way bitcoin is backed by all the weapons bitcoin owners posess- which is not at all. As i said no one is holding a gun to anyones head making them sell a can of soda for $1, theres no one stopping anyone from raising the price to $100 for a can of soda. The money can fluctuate wildly and instantaneously. Both can. Theres no rule saying either cannot. Theres no mechanism that would stop anyone from doing it.

    [–]cheese4352 0 points1 point  (6 children)

    The bitcoin owners with guns have 0 power projection compared to the US military. A bunch of armchair generals with guns? Yeah, the world is quaking in their boots.

    People completely underestimate the importance of power projection and its use on a global scale, regardless, its only a single factor amongst other factors. Military, trade, assets, politicians, natural resources, institutions. Bitcoin does not have any of that backing it up, its the reason why the US can go 22 trillion in debt, and still be the strongest country on the planet, because it has things, and it has potential. Bitcoin, is all make belief, because it people pretending it has value.

    [–]4thelove0fthegam3 0 points1 point  (5 children)

    It doesnt mean anything the military has never in its history used its might to confront someone who charged too much for a can of soda (or anything else.). I think youre missing that asking for $100 for a can of soda is saying you think usd is worth 1/100th of what most people believe it is- however no one has ever been punished for doing anything along those lines.

    [–]cheese4352 0 points1 point  (0 children)

    You are correct, the military has never confronted someone over the price of a can of soda, nor have they ever confronted anyone over the price of anything. But I never said anything like that, I said the military and the other players "indirectly" influence the value of the American dollar. Below are some examples off the top of my head.

    Perry Expedition - A bunch of American gun boats went to isolationist Japan, pretty much said, trade with us we'll fuck you up.

    WW2 - Destruction of most of the global industry, in part by American soldiers, in doing so creating a monopoly for the US economy.

    Occupation of Japan - Ensured that pro-American politicians were elected into power, thus creating an extremely valuable trading partner for the USA, both strengthening the American Dollar and boosting trade.

    The above examples are all instances of the US military performing actions that either directly or indirectly affected the value of the American dollar.

    You're focusing alot on the military, I stated several other factors such as trade, politicians, assets, natural resources, institutions, etc.

    [–]maxcoinerredditor for 3 months 1 point2 points  (4 children)

    The window of time you are using to judge it's volatility is unfair. Bitcoin started at $0 for over a year, then went to $0.0025 and gradually worked its way up to today's price. Every other year it would go up 10 times in price on average, yes, even with the bear markets. Focusing on just one bear market makes you sound like a cherrypicker.

    [–]cheese4352 0 points1 point  (3 children)

    You are right, it is unfair to judge a stock based on on two years, but, theres really nothing else to look at compared to a regular stock. Looking at the graph, you're eyes are drawn to these past couple of years, all past years the coin was effectively worthless to how valuable it is now. But looking at it at its 19k high, and now at its 10k price, who's to say that its current price is even its correct price? What is determining that? From what this video told me, its just a bunch of random people who have nothing to base it on. At least with a regular stock you have things such as operating expenses, cash flow, yield, etc. to determine a stock's value.

    [–]maxcoinerredditor for 3 months 0 points1 point  (2 children)

    Comparing it to a stock is where people keep going wrong, however. Stocks are ownership in shares of a company, while Bitcoin is an asset like gold. Assets are priced the way they are as a function of usefulness divided by scarcity. How much people want to own it over how many units there are available to obtain. That's it.

    Bitcoins are both extremely useful as a store of value. Like Obama said, it's a Swiss bank in your pocket. Your job is basically to guess how much people feel a literal Swiss bank in their pocket is worth to them and divide that by 21 Million coins. Once you've found the correct dollar amount, just keep longing bitcoin until it gets to that amount... Shouldn't be too many more years now, I'd say just 5-9 more.

    [–]cheese4352 0 points1 point  (1 child)

    That makes sense. With gold however, it is a physical object, there is a finite amount of it on the planet. What is a bitcoin? Is it just a random group of letters and numbers? What is there to stop a hacker from creating more? It's not unlike gold where you physically have to hold it, a bitcoin is just a number correct? Or is there a finite amount of it as in, Bitcoin 1 is assigned the number 1, and then bitcoin 2 is assigned the number 2, but the creator of bitcoin said there is no number past 21,000,000?

    [–]maxcoinerredditor for 3 months 0 points1 point  (0 children)

    We are quite sure no one is making more bitcoins. They are a bit more than a number, as cryptography ensures that each is totally unique and immutable. They are also quite fungible on the bitcoin network. (Meaning that every bitcoin is worth exactly as much as every other bitcoin.)

    I think you'll find this page extremely informative for these kinds of questions: https://www.lopp.net/bitcoin-information/getting-started.html

    [–]Kpenney 2 points3 points  (2 children)

    I'd say society chooses to back the dollar, and more and more of society has started questioning the real value of of an obviously broken tool where it seems the majority of hard working people around the world are magically getting poorer at the whims of those who dictate value of the tool.

    [–]durascrub 3 points4 points  (1 child)

    Holy run-on sentence, Batman!

    [–]Kpenney 1 point2 points  (0 children)

    Yeah I tried lol

    [–]KaneNine 0 points1 point  (0 children)

    Eye opening to see just how many people have zero clue

    [–]TheFigureHead-6T6 0 points1 point  (0 children)

    Wow that guy really missed the point with his pen argument lol... That pen isn't worth 1k because no one is willing to buy it for 1k. Nothing like bitcoin.

    [–]Skawater080 0 points1 point  (0 children)

    Akon is the man. He is a smart and nice guy.

    [–][deleted]  (1 child)


      [–]VredditDownloaderredditor for 3 months 1 point2 points  (0 children)

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      I also work with links sent by PM.


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      [–]ManyArtichoke 0 points1 point  (0 children)

      I see you mining and grinding on the blockchain, I know you see me with my ledger and you already know, I wanna hold you, hold you, you already know...

      [–]GNoobUntu 0 points1 point  (0 children)

      He's not the hero we want but he's the hero we need

      [–]stevev916 0 points1 point  (0 children)

      was waiting to buy in... this clinches it

      [–]Satushyredditor for 7 weeks 0 points1 point  (0 children)

      I wish Akon pointed out the dollar has lost a ton and continues to loose buying power. They would have lost it!

      [–]rustyfinch 0 points1 point  (0 children)

      Someone find Ja

      [–]pujanvakharia 0 points1 point  (0 children)

      Damn Aekan ! Imma holla holla at your bitcoin wallet!

      [–]skuzzadonxredditor for 3 months 0 points1 point  (0 children)

      dudes gonna be president one day

      [–]Mr-_-Positivity 0 points1 point  (0 children)

      The woman asks about security and Akon says what we all know, that the security is reassured by all those who hold the blockchain data. My biggest quarrel with that is how do we know that in the future it won’t be hackable or corruptible in one way or another? We can believe in the blockchain as much as we want, but the unknown is always there.

      [–]KnowMadd7redditor for 6 days 0 points1 point  (0 children)

      Akorn and Grilled Cheesy trying to make bitcoin easy.

      [–]critz1183redditor for 3 months 0 points1 point  (0 children)

      No idea who this is. Some sports star I'm guessing ?

      [–]7atheist 0 points1 point  (0 children)

      BITCOIN is trustless, no third party and no fake coin to be on blockchain. You're just a bank yourself, I like Bitcoin because it's easy to use and it's safer.

      [–]7atheist 0 points1 point  (0 children)

      I'm in in Uganda Africa, few people understand Bitcoin because few people have it, not everyone has a wallet and not everyone got the news about Bitcoin when it first came out. I wish I knew but it's too late, it was much cheaper.

      Bitcoin is like have a piece of land or gold, it grows in value depending the levels of demand. Therefore some friend of mine called it an asset, and I have traded some few mbtc for a service, it's just magical and smart.

      [–]rubikaventuresredditor for 3 weeks 0 points1 point  (0 children)

      Woww thar is amazing

      [–]granttes 0 points1 point  (0 children)

      nice attempt I guess...

      [–]gdubluu 0 points1 point  (0 children)

      I’m a bitcoinvict they can’t let me out 🎶

      [–][deleted]  (1 child)


        [–]VredditDownloaderredditor for 3 months 0 points1 point  (0 children)


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        [–][deleted]  (1 child)




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          [–]ysamy120 0 points1 point  (0 children)

          Come on Akon!

          [–]sebrandon1 0 points1 point  (0 children)

          Holy shit. Nice Akon!

          [–]elemexe 0 points1 point  (0 children)

          Anyone care to summarize “Akoin” for me? I know guy does a lot of good so it would be pretty out of character for him to start a scam coin.

          [–]SirLavish 0 points1 point  (0 children)

          Akon sells it ok, but could you truly explain what the internet was gonna be in 1994?

          [–]Kiluan 0 points1 point  (0 children)

          Not bad.

          To be clear though, here in the US we have a fuck-ton of gold. We are also trusted with a fuck-ton of gold for other countries. We literally have a giant underground safe full of gold that belongs to other countries, and every time a trade is made with gold someone loads a cart up with gold and transports it from one country's stores to another country's stores. It never leaves the USA. Wild shit.

          But also no, gold does not back USD anymore.

          [–]TheCryptoJerk 0 points1 point  (0 children)

          He definitely has the right mindset.

          [–]terr547 0 points1 point  (0 children)

          Dude is knowledgeable!

          [–]rundmc214 0 points1 point  (1 child)

          But you cant SELL that pen for a grand. People pay a dollar for it because we allbthe person who buys it agrees with the price. Try to sell a pen on ebay for a $g my homie.

          [–]Sir_Boofingtonredditor for 2 weeks 0 points1 point  (0 children)

          Fair enough

          [–]Foppo12 0 points1 point  (0 children)

          Instead of saying "It's worth something because the people say it's worth something" or that the value is decided by what we say the value is, he should've said that the value comes from what someone wants to pay for it or for what value they want to trade. But overall it's interesting people talk about Bitcoin on these podcasts and shows

          [–]Fllnangl 0 points1 point  (0 children)

          Expect a mini crash soon! In anything investment management , there’s a consensual indicator that can be taken as broad bear sign: if your cab driver, your doctor, or your butcher tells you about a stock/coin/financial product just short it. Bitcoin is “hold” on long term, so only short term investors/speculators are concerned here.

          [–]moobooloo 0 points1 point  (0 children)

          My man

          [–]itreo 0 points1 point  (0 children)

          Economist and long time now former bitcoin user here. Watching this is a nightmare. Gold standard was removed for a reason. Blockchain isnt hard to understand. It's all a matter of preference and there are pros and cons to it all but listening to them and how uneducated the entire conversation was made me turn it off half way


          Need more famous people speaking about Bitcoin at the media.

          [–]210BTC 0 points1 point  (0 children)


          [–]IanPrado 0 points1 point  (0 children)

          Idk what y'all are talking about. Akon has a solid understanding of Bitcoin. Is it at the level of Andreas Antonopoulos? No, but that is fine

          [–]InquisitiveBoba 0 points1 point  (0 children)

          Dumb people talking about bitcoin again, bull run?!?!?!

          [–]cainethelongshot 0 points1 point  (0 children)

          Best moment is when the host realises the US Dollar isn't backed by gold

          [–]fittes7 0 points1 point  (2 children)

          Well at first I was about keep on scrolling down cause I was like “wtf a rapper knows about bitcoin and money” but I took a chance and listened to it.

          Akon have surprised me pretty much and I liked his explanation.

          But I’ll have to admit that this conversation sounds like all the conversations I had when I’ve tried explaining bitcoin to people.

          People are just stuck at thinking that bitcoin is there to make it easier for people to send money through their phones to people overseas with less fees..

          Or they trust their government so much that they try so hard to ignore all the facts you’re pointing at them.

          And that’s why idk when bitcoin will be the next thing, I believe that once the majority understands money and accept the facts, bitcoin will rocket. That can happen tomorrow or 20 years from now I don’t know... the only reason that bitcoin doesn’t worth 1m$ is lack of people’s knowledge IMO.. bitcoin is the craziest thing that people have invented in the finance sector in the last 100 years.. you people should be thankful for someone like Satoshi who have set there for all that time and invented a whole system that is decentralized and supposed to take care of your money wise freedom and worry.

          [–]mrinvertigo 0 points1 point  (0 children)

          wait.. I can point facts at people? Sweet..

          [–]pauly_jay 0 points1 point  (0 children)

          How ignorant. Why assume he doesn’t know anything simply because he’s a “rapper”... yikes that really shows your character.

          People who rap can’t be educated/informed on topics like cryptocurrency, investing, and finance?

          [–]FiveSkinn 0 points1 point  (1 child)

          But what does Ja Rule think?

          [–]twobadkidsin412 1 point2 points  (0 children)

          He thinks IT'S MURDER

          [–]chimeratx 0 points1 point  (0 children)

          Man it pained me when the other dude tried to argue "who says what the worth of it is?". Sounds like something someone who's in a very layered bubble would say. His following replies reinforced that.

          [–]Puck_U_Madame 0 points1 point  (0 children)

          He cleverly danced around not knowing what the fuck he’s talking about?

          [–]Fabulous_Anywhereredditor for 3 months 0 points1 point  (0 children)

          crypto is an idiot magnet.

          [–]ogstepdad -1 points0 points  (5 children)

          Lol these rap mf don't know shit. Good on akon for this, but he brought it around the most ignorant people

          [–]mrinvertigo 2 points3 points  (4 children)

          We are all ignorant until we're not. That's the point of education.

          Are you saying we shouldn't educate the uneducated? Save your knowledge sharing for only other people with knowledge? Sounds elitist to me.

          [–]ogstepdad -1 points0 points  (3 children)

          Nope. The ignorant part is them basically refusing to understand what akon is saying calling a scam and such. I see you just want to be right though so, you are right. I hope that fulfils you for today.

          [–]mrinvertigo 0 points1 point  (2 children)

          I don't care about being right. I care about adoption of a good system and educating the masses (the ignorant as you said) will need to be addressed before that can happen. So Akon is only helping with talks such as this. Your berating them as ignorant is the only ignorance that matters as far as adoption is concerned.

          As well, you should question everything until it can be proven. It's how you avoid bitconnects from happening.

          [–]ogstepdad -1 points0 points  (1 child)

          Oh lol you're the type that legit craves validation. You are right vertigo, them refusing to listen or understand what Bitcoin totally isn't ignorant.

          Maybe if they were more respectful of akon and what he was saying.

          [–]xi27poxredditor for 3 months -1 points0 points  (0 children)


          [–]crooklynca -1 points0 points  (0 children)

          Akon has been doing BIG THAANGZ for awhile now. He's going to become a billionaire in no time. Africa has SO MUCH going for herself, too. It just needs someone to bring her together. I think Akon is going to be the Bill Gates of that continent.

          [–]Bloodsport121 -2 points-1 points  (1 child)

          AKON is a bitch he made a song called "locked up" about being locked in Prison but if you check his record he only ever spent 1 month in jail...

          fake af type nigga

          [–]dougfr007 0 points1 point  (0 children)

          That sounds like SUCH a long time in jail.

          [–]NotGonnaGetBannedredditor for 3 months -5 points-4 points  (1 child)

          He presents himself very poorly on this subject.

          [–]Tsurie 5 points6 points  (0 children)

          Lol. Ez said behind your screen. Bitcoin is complex to explain in a oneliner. There are to many rabbit holes to understand before connecting all dots. He explained it actualy realy good. He made them curious and start thinking. Good job Akon.