Is This the End of Crypto?

Summary

The video script discusses the tumultuous world of cryptocurrency, focusing on the significant 'Merge' update in Ethereum's blockchain. It highlights the environmental impact of Bitcoin mining and the drastic energy consumption reduction achieved by Ethereum's shift from Proof of Work to Proof of Stake. The script also touches on the challenges facing crypto, including regulatory threats, market volatility, and questions about decentralization. It concludes by acknowledging the Merge's positive environmental effects but questions whether it can single-handedly save the cryptoverse, suggesting that the future of cryptocurrency remains uncertain.

Takeaways

• 📈 The script discusses the volatile nature of Bitcoin, highlighting its peak value of nearly 65,000 and the subsequent market downturns.
• 💡 It mentions the mainstream adoption of cryptocurrency, with endorsements from celebrities like Matt Damon and platforms like Crypto.com.
• 📉 The narrative describes a 'brutal week' for crypto investors, with the resignation of a major platform founder and the bankruptcy filing of the crypto exchange FTX.
• 🚨 The script points out red flags and scams in the crypto space, emphasizing the risks and the loss of billions of dollars overnight.
• 🌐 The Ethereum blockchain's 'Merge' is presented as a significant update and a major development in the crypto space.
• 🎥 The video's sponsor, Storyblocks, is introduced as providing unlimited access to over a million assets for creators.
• 💻 The script explains the concept of blockchain and crypto mining, describing the energy-intensive process known as Proof of Work.
• 🔋 The Ethereum Merge is detailed as a transition from Proof of Work to Proof of Stake, resulting in a 99.5% drop in energy consumption.
• 🏦 The script contrasts the environmental benefits of the Merge with the ongoing challenges of crypto regulation and decentralization.
• 🤔 Skepticism is expressed regarding the future of crypto, particularly in relation to government regulation and the potential reclassification of crypto as a security by the SEC.
• 🌍 The potential impact of Ethereum's transition on other blockchains is considered, with the hope that it might inspire a broader shift towards more sustainable practices.

Q & A

What was the context of the discussion about Bitcoin's value in the script?

The script discusses Bitcoin's value being almost 65,000 and the idea of making Bitcoin an unofficial currency, indicating a time of optimism and growth in the cryptocurrency market.

What is the significance of 'The Merge' in the context of Ethereum?

The Merge refers to a significant update in Ethereum's history where Ethereum transitioned from a proof-of-work to a proof-of-stake consensus mechanism, drastically reducing its energy consumption.

How did the script describe the process of mining cryptocurrencies?

The script describes cryptocurrency mining as a process where specialized computers in mining farms compete to solve complicated math puzzles to verify blocks of transactions on the blockchain.

What was the environmental impact of the old Ethereum blockchain as mentioned in the script?

The script mentions that before The Merge, the Ethereum blockchain consumed as much electricity as the entire country of Chile, highlighting a significant environmental concern.

What is the proof-of-stake system introduced by Ethereum's The Merge?

The proof-of-stake system is a new method of verifying transactions on the blockchain where computers put in a stake, or a small amount of cryptocurrency, to be entered into a lottery to verify a block, instead of racing to solve math puzzles.

What was the energy consumption reduction achieved by Ethereum's The Merge?

The Merge resulted in a 99.5% drop in power consumption for the Ethereum blockchain, which is a substantial reduction in energy usage.

What is the potential impact of the SEC's regulation on the crypto market?

The SEC's potential regulation could classify crypto as a security rather than a commodity, requiring registration with the SEC and potentially impacting the unregulated and decentralized nature of cryptocurrencies.

What are the next steps in Ethereum's master plan after The Merge?

After The Merge, Ethereum's master plan includes The Surge, which aims to massively scale up the Ethereum blockchain's transaction capacity, followed by other phases named The Verge, The Purge, and The Splurge.

How did the script address the issue of decentralization in the context of Ethereum's The Merge?

The script points out that after The Merge, almost half of all transactions on the Ethereum blockchain are taking place from just two addresses, raising concerns about the decentralization principle of cryptocurrencies.

What is the potential consequence of miners moving to other blockchains after Ethereum's The Merge?

The script suggests that instead of shutting down, miners may move to other blockchains that still use proof-of-work, transferring the energy consumption rather than reducing it overall.

What was the script's final stance on the future of cryptocurrencies?

The script concludes that while The Merge was a significant achievement for Ethereum and the environment, it is not enough to save the cryptoverse alone, and there are many more challenges to overcome in the future.

Outlines

00:00

📉 Cryptocurrency Turmoil and Ethereum's Merge

The paragraph discusses the volatile nature of the cryptocurrency market, with a spotlight on Bitcoin's value fluctuations and the resignation of a crypto platform founder due to misuse of investor funds. It highlights the bankruptcy filing of the crypto exchange FTX and the significant loss experienced by investors, one of whom lost over $10 billion. Amidst this turmoil, the narrator introduces a positive development: Ethereum's successful 'Merge,' which is described as a major update in its history, potentially solving one of the crypto space's biggest problems. The paragraph ends with a teaser about the importance of the Merge and its implications for the future of cryptocurrency.

05:02

💰 The Blockchain and Proof of Work Explained

This paragraph provides an overview of the blockchain technology and the Proof of Work (PoW) mechanism used in cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin. It explains how specialized computers in mining farms worldwide compete to solve complex math puzzles to verify transaction blocks and earn rewards, such as bitcoins. The narrator emphasizes the high energy consumption associated with PoW due to the computational power required, which contributes to environmental concerns like global warming. The paragraph concludes by setting the stage for Ethereum's transition from PoW to a new verification system, which is revealed to be a significant and unprecedented move in the blockchain world.

10:02

⚡ Ethereum's Transition to Proof of Stake and Environmental Impact

The paragraph delves into Ethereum's switch from Proof of Work to Proof of Stake (PoS), a process known as 'The Merge.' It describes this transition as a monumental and complex task, akin to changing a car's engine while it's speeding down the road. The narrator reveals that the transition was successful and had a dramatic impact on energy consumption, reducing it by 99.5%. Prior to The Merge, Ethereum's energy usage was comparable to an entire country like Chile. The change to PoS is portrayed as a significant step towards addressing the environmental impact of cryptocurrency mining, potentially reducing global power consumption and mitigating climate change effects.

15:02

🤔 Skepticism and the Future of Cryptocurrency Regulation

This paragraph presents a skeptical viewpoint on the future of cryptocurrency, despite Ethereum's successful transition to PoS. It acknowledges the impressive energy savings but argues that this is only one of many challenges facing the crypto space. The focus shifts to the issues of scams, volatility, and the fear of loss that deter regular people from investing in cryptocurrencies. The paragraph introduces the character 'Johnny Law,' who represents the regulatory perspective and argues that the real threat to crypto is government regulation. It contrasts countries' differing approaches to crypto, from El Salvador's embrace to China's outright ban, suggesting a complex and uncertain regulatory landscape ahead.

20:03

🛑 The Debate on Cryptocurrency's Problems and Decentralization

The paragraph captures a debate between proponents and skeptics of cryptocurrency. It discusses the potential regulatory actions by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the possibility of classifying crypto as a security rather than a commodity. The conversation touches on the implications of such a classification for the crypto ecosystem and the philosophical underpinnings of decentralization. It also points out that despite Ethereum's move to PoS, the transaction activity is now concentrated in two addresses, raising questions about the decentralization of the blockchain. The paragraph concludes with a reference to the ongoing energy consumption by mining farms that have shifted to other blockchains, suggesting that the environmental benefits may not be as significant as initially thought.

🚀 Ethereum's Future Plans and the Crypto Hype

The final paragraph outlines Ethereum's future plans following the Merge, which include the Surge, Verge, Purge, and Splurge. It highlights the Surge as a scaling solution for Ethereum, potentially increasing its transaction capacity from 20 to over a hundred thousand per second. The paragraph also addresses the skepticism around the constant promises of groundbreaking advancements in crypto technology, which often seem just out of reach. The narrator wraps up by acknowledging the impressive technical achievement of the Merge and its environmental benefits but tempers expectations about its ability to single-handedly save the crypto space, emphasizing the need for a balanced and curious perspective on the future of cryptocurrency.

Keywords

💡Bitcoin

Bitcoin is a decentralized digital currency that operates without a central bank or single administrator. It was the first cryptocurrency and remains one of the most well-known. In the video, Bitcoin is mentioned as having a significant value, almost 65,000, indicating its prominence in the cryptocurrency market and its impact on the economy and investors.

💡Cryptocurrency

Cryptocurrency refers to digital or virtual currencies that use cryptography for security and operate on decentralized ledger technology called blockchain. The video discusses the mainstream adoption of cryptocurrencies and their volatile nature, as well as the potential for scams and regulatory challenges.

💡The Merge

The Merge is a significant update in Ethereum's history, where Ethereum transitioned from a Proof of Work (PoW) consensus mechanism to a Proof of Stake (PoS) mechanism. This change drastically reduced the energy consumption of the Ethereum network, as highlighted in the video, and is a key development in the evolution of blockchain technology.

💡Proof of Work (PoW)

Proof of Work is a consensus mechanism used in blockchain technology, where miners compete to solve complex mathematical problems to validate transactions and add new blocks to the chain. The video mentions PoW as the process that previously secured the Ethereum blockchain, which was energy-intensive and a subject of environmental concern.

💡Proof of Stake (PoS)

Proof of Stake is an alternative consensus mechanism to PoW, where validators are chosen to create a new block based on their stake, or holdings, in the cryptocurrency. The video emphasizes PoS as the new method adopted by Ethereum post-Merge, which significantly reduced the network's energy consumption.

💡Ethereum

Ethereum is an open-source blockchain platform that features smart contract functionality and its own cryptocurrency called Ether. The video focuses on Ethereum's transition to PoS through The Merge, which is a pivotal moment for the platform and the broader cryptocurrency ecosystem.

💡Volatility

Volatility in the context of the video refers to the rapid and significant fluctuations in the value of cryptocurrencies. The script mentions the drastic changes in Bitcoin's value over time, which can lead to substantial gains or losses for investors and contributes to the perception of risk associated with crypto investments.

💡Scams

Scams in the cryptocurrency space refer to fraudulent schemes that exploit investors' trust and the lack of regulation in the market. The video script alludes to the prevalence of scams as one of the major issues facing the crypto industry, which can deter potential investors and harm the reputation of legitimate projects.

💡Regulation

Regulation in the video pertains to the oversight and governance by authorities such as the SEC (Security and Exchange Commission) to protect investors and ensure fair practices in the financial markets. The script discusses the potential impact of increased regulation on the crypto industry, which could change its decentralized nature and affect its future.

💡Decentralization

Decentralization is a core principle of blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies, where the network operates without a central authority. The video points out that despite the move to PoS, the Ethereum blockchain is seeing a concentration of transaction activity, which raises questions about the true level of decentralization achieved.

💡Environmental Impact

The environmental impact of cryptocurrencies is a major theme in the video, with a focus on the energy consumption of PoW mechanisms like Bitcoin mining. The Merge is highlighted as a positive step towards reducing this impact, as it transitioned Ethereum to the less energy-intensive PoS system.

Highlights

Bitcoin's value nearly reaching 65,000 and the consideration of making it an unofficial currency.

The mainstream adoption of cryptocurrency with endorsements from celebrities like Matt Damon.

A period of downfall for crypto investors with the resignation of a major crypto platform founder.

FTX filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, indicating a crisis in the crypto market.

The Merge being the most significant update in Ethereum's history.

Ethereum's successful transition to a new verification process, reducing energy consumption by 99.5%.

The impact of The Merge on global power consumption, equivalent to removing a developed country's energy usage.

Introduction of Storyblocks, a sponsor providing unlimited access to over a million assets for creative projects.

The explanation of blockchain technology and the process of crypto mining.

The incentive for crypto mining farms due to the high rewards for solving blockchain puzzles.

The environmental concerns associated with the energy-intensive process of Proof of Work in blockchain verification.

Ethereum's switch from Proof of Work to Proof of Stake, a system that significantly reduces energy usage.

The potential regulatory challenges that cryptocurrency faces from government entities like the SEC.

The debate over the future of decentralization in the crypto space post Ethereum's Merge.

The potential for other blockchains to adopt Proof of Stake inspired by Ethereum's successful transition.

Ethereum's future plans post-Merge, including the Surge, Verge, Purge, and Splurge.

The Surge's aim to scale up the Ethereum blockchain, allowing it to perform over a hundred thousand transactions per second.

The call for a balanced view on the future of cryptocurrency, acknowledging its achievements and challenges.

Transcripts

- [Narrator] Hey hotties, let's talk

about Bitcoin. - Bitcoin's almost 65,000.

- And make Bitcoin unofficial currency.

- Last time we talked about crypto

it kind of seemed like the good times would just never end.

(cork popping)

- [Reporter] Cryptocurrency is going mainstream.

- [Matt Damon] Fortune favors the brave.

- [Reporter] Crypto.com overnight.

- And then they did.

- It's been a brutal week for crypto investors.

Founder and CEO Sam Bankman-Fried has announced

his official resignation.

(man screaming)

- Not only did all these graphs go down, but one

of the largest crypto platforms went bust when we discovered

that the founder was using tons of investors money

to fund his other company and not telling anyone.

Totally not okay.

- [Newscaster] Crypto exchange FTX files

for Chapter 11 bankruptcy today.

- [Reporter] It's safe to say

there were red flags all over the play.

- As of last week it was worth $32 billion.

- Surely it had to be some sort of scam.

- This is why you're seeing this guy's face all

over the news lately.

He literally lost like over $10 billion overnight.

- So now I feel a bit vindicated.

- While all of this turmoil has been going down

crypto actually had a huge win lately.

Something that no one's really talking about.

- [Reporter] Waiting for the Merge.

- [Announcer] The Merge - [Commentator] The Merge

merge. - They really solved one

of their biggest problems.

So that's what I wanna focus on today.

So what happened?

And is it enough to save the cryptoverse?

(hands clapping) Let's do this.

- [Reporter] The merge is perhaps the most important update

in Ethereum's history.

- Can you explain it to everyone?

- This is the biggest development in the crypto space.

- [Announcer] Crypto's most ambitious change to date.

- Hey, before we go on, I need to pay my bills

and thank today's sponsor.

Cut now to that, please.

Boy, do we have something good in store today.

I'm not gonna spoil it

but just say it took an entire day to film this video.

Before we get into it, I wanna think today's sponsor

which is a service that we're actually using

to make this video, kind of meta.

Thank you, Storyblocks, for supporting this video.

Check this out, crypto farm.

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There's over a million assets on this website

and you can download as much as you want.

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You're just pulling stuff.

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Well before I was a YouTuber

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There's no hidden fees, there's no extra thing

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Clicking that link, unsurprisingly,

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about how to get in on this amazing service.

Thank you, again, Storyblocks.

All right, let's get into this crypto video.

We've got a lot to cover.

Okay, so before we get into what changed in the crypto verse

which is a very big deal, let's do a little refresher

for those who need it.

This time with a little bit of a spin.

Hold on a second.

(percussion music)

Welcome to crypto 102.

This is really (beep) stupid.

Why am I doing this?

Every time I have to explain the blockchain

to people I have to do some gimmick to be like,

"I'm gonna teach you the blockchain

"using the simplest version."

No, I'm done.

I'm not doing it, (beep) the blockchain.

Let's do this.

If you wanna understand why internet money is

making the ocean rise

all you really have to understand is this.

This is a crypto mining farm.

It is a warehouse full

of specialized computers that have one job

and one job only, solving math problems.

(indistinct)

These things are all over the world.

Hell, I was in a Swiss bunker a couple weeks ago

and the guy I was interviewing had one of these things.

- I am mining Bitcoin at the same time.

- [Johnny] Yeah, yeah.

- Is this just another way for me

to slip Switzerland into a video

that's completely unrelated?

It totally is.

Any chance I have, I will mention my favorite country.

Anyway, these machines all

over the world are sitting here racing

against each other to solve a complicated math puzzle first.

And if you're the lucky computer that solves one

of these complicated puzzles, you win the race.

And that allows you to verify what's called a block

which is just a little box of data.

On the Bitcoin blockchain, for example,

this block is only one megabyte of data.

It's just big enough to hold

like 2000 transactions that people have made

with their cryptocurrency.

As you publicly verify this block of transactions

it gets added to a long chain

of a bunch of other blocks that have been verified

by the same math puzzle race process

and they sort of get strung together

into a publicly available, totally verified chain

of transactions verified by fancy computers

that do a bunch of math.

It is called a blockchain.

Wait, no, I'm not here to explain the blockchain.

I'm supposed to be explaining this.

So why would a bunch of people around the world pay a lot

of money to make these big warehouses

so that they can verify a math puzzle?

Because if you're the one who owns the computer

that successfully solves the math puzzle

and verifies the block of transactions, you get rewarded.

In the case of Bitcoin right now, you'd get 6.25 bitcoins.

Which is like, I don't know, nothing more than $125,000.

(cash register ringing)

So yeah, there's a huge incentive for people

to build these things and to mine all day for Bitcoin.

Anyway, this race to complete math problems uses

up a lot of processing power, a lot of energy.

It takes a whole lot of work for your computer to run

through all of these computations trying to figure

out what the answer is

and that's why this method is called Proof of Work.

Every computer that verifies the transactions

on the blockchain has to do a lot of work.

This is all well and cute

until you think through all the energy that goes

into building these machines, and then you think

of the electricity it takes to run them day and night

and then you remember that they get really hot when

they're running all the time doing these computations.

So you need to cool them down with AC units.

- Let's all cool down.

- And then remember that most of the electricity

we use today comes from burning hydrocarbons

which releases a nice thick blanket of CO2

into the atmosphere that warms the planet

and contributes to the ongoing global warming crisis.

(bomb exploding)

So yeah, that's how the math money makes the ocean rise.

But that problem may have just been solved.

- [Reporter] Ethereum pulls off the Merge.

- Ethereum just got revamped.

- The second largest blockchain, Ethereum which is home

to the cryptocurrency Ether has just completely

changed the way that it does the whole crypto electricity

math verification thing.

This isn't just some like changing the code

and hitting update.

This verification process that they change is

like the beating heart of the blockchain.

Switching it out for something new is

like switching out the engine of a car

while it's hurling down the road at like 120 miles an hour.

Insanely difficult to do.

So insanely difficult to do that nobody else has ever dared

to try it.

But Ethereum they were like, "It's worth it for the planet."

So they start working

on this transition for years and years.

They're tinkering away.

They're testing it, they're perfecting it until

September 15th, 2022 when they finally

flipped the switch and.

(power draining)

So what happened?

Did it all crash and burn and die

and the Ethereum blockchain is no more?

Did the car go hurtling off the highway without an engine?

(dramatic music)

No, actually it went off without a hitch.

Which again for me, I'm just like, "Cool, good job guys."

But the thing that blew my mind is this.

Look at this graph.

I mean, look at this graph.

This is the energy consumption of the Ethereum blockchain.

Look at that drop off.

We're talking about a 99.5% drop in power consumption

for this blockchain.

I mean, to give you some context here

before this transition, which they called The Merge

the Ethereum blockchain was consuming the same amount

of electricity as the country of Chile.

It's as if a major developed country was suddenly taken

off the planet's energy bill.

The CEO of the Ethereum blockchain, claimed that this one

software update has reduced global power

consumption by 0.2%.

Which is just like (imitates explosion).

They did this by changing from the math puzzle race

the proof of work race

which they had to do to verify all all their transactions

to a totally different system called proof of stake.

So now instead of having a bunch

of computers around the world racing each other

all sucking up energy to do this big math race

now every computer that wants to verify a block has to put

in a stake, a small amount

of cryptocurrency that then puts you

in the running to verify a block.

Sort of like buying a lottery ticket.

- If you wanna win the lottery

you have to make the money to buy a ticket.

- Then through a very complex process

that I will not go into here,

a single random computer is picked to verify that block

and take home that sweet, sweet commission.

So no more of these big crypto farms racing

against each other to see who can get there first

contributing the most processing power.

Instead, it's just one computer doing the very light lifting

of verifying a block, because again, it was the racing

all of these machines working simultaneously that used

up the power, not the verification process itself.

So there you have it.

The cryptoverse was saved.

The power hungry computers were turned offline.

- Shut it down.

- And the world energy consumption plummeted all

over the globe.

The ice caps stopped melting and the pollution was reduced

to their lowest levels in 40 years.

(fist knocking)

- Actually, that's not what happened at all

and the cryptoverse is far from saved.

- Skeptic Johnny, I didn't know you were gonna be here.

I thought you moved to Tampa.

- I heard you were making another video

so I thought I'd stop by.

Can I come in?

- I guess?

- Okay, good to be back. (doorbell ringing)

- Crypto Johnny.

- Hey, I heard you guys were talking

about crypto and I'm here to tell you

that the crypto verse might not be totally saved

but this is a huge step in the right direction.

I'm coming in.

- Oh gosh, why do crypto people always have

to be so polarized?

Can't we just stay curious

about this new technology and just see what happens?

- No. - No.

- Okay, fine.

Let's do this again.

Can I at least get some Doritos?

(bag crinkling) Okay.

Oh, I thought the video was over.

Well then, let's do this.

Skeptic Johnny, you start.

I honestly wanna hear what you have to say.

I thought that The Merge and this huge proof

of stake thing was like a huge win for crypto.

So what's your rebuttal?

- No, I mean, you're totally right.

Having Ethereum switch to proof of stake was a huge deal.

Is a huge deal.

A completely like that graph that you showed earlier.

Super impressive.

- Thank you, didn't realize this was gonna be so amicable.

- But let's be clear

that this is just one of a million problems facing crypto.

The crypto space is still rife with scams and volatility.

The real reason your little project hasn't taken

off yet is because regular people are way too afraid

of losing their money with a cryptocurrency

that can be worth $65,000 one month

and then a couple months later worth $35,000.

- Word.

- Wait, what?

- No, that happened to me.

- What, you invested? - After the last video when

this guy gave his big crypto sermon I was kind

of convinced and things were going well

and so I went and I bought like a thousand bucks worth

of crypto and now it's worth like 300.

- Yeah, case in point, you and like everyone else

who dabbled in crypto.

- You'll make it all back.

You just need to hold.

- Okay, but even if he does make it back

the volatility of crypto isn't actually its biggest problem.

- If it's not the environment

and it's not the volatility which I'm concerned

about what is it?

- This ought to be good.

- It turns out that crypto's biggest problem is that guy.

- Hey, how's it going guys?

- Oh God, not this guy.

- Wait, there's more of you?

What is this?

I don't do this.

Who the hell is this guy?

- That is Johnny Law and he is hard

at work thinking about how to regulate crypto.

The real existential threat

to crypto right now is not volatility

or the environment or the lack of adoption.

It is regulators.

♪ Regulators mount up ♪

No one's gonna get that reference

unless they had an older brother who was

into hip hop in the nineties.

- Hey, my brother had that album too.

Love Nate Dog.

- Before you go into the SEC. - Wait, hold on.

Let me just finish this thought about the government

and regulators before you can have your rebuttal.

The fact is we did see some governments embrace crypto.

Like the government

of El Salvador who like made it legal tender.

At that same time

other governments were showing what it looks

like when you regulate crypto.

In China, they've outright banned crypto.

You're not allowed to conduct any kind

of transactions in or outside of the country

and you're not even allowed to mine it.

Totally banned.

- Yeah, that's cool but China still accounts

for the second most mining activity in the world.

It's almost as if, I don't know

the rise of the crypto verse is inevitable, okay.

Governments be damned.

- You may actually get a front row seat to see how

unstoppable the crypto verse is

because the United States may be next.

- No, no, you're getting it all wrong.

Me and the USA, we're chill.

We love crypto in the U.S.

It's all about freedom.

It's all about doing what you love, okay.

Me and Matt Damon we're like best friends.

- Fortune favors the brave.

- Yeah, but Matt Damon doesn't pass regulations

in the United States.

The SEC does.

- Mm, wait, wait, I know that one.

SEC, Security and Exchange Commission, right?

- Yes, great work.

Real Johnny's real smart.

(chips crunching)

But yes, that is correct.

The SEC is a thing

in the United States that is meant to protect investors.

- You just don't get it.

- I mean, look at this article that I have here

from the head of the SEC that wrote it

in the Wall Street Journal.

- Wait, did you actually print off that paper?

- Yes, I printed it out.

It helps me read it.

I'm dyslexic.

Do you have an issue with that?

- I didn't say that.

- Dude, I'm dyslexic too and I love printing things.

Especially in big font.

- Thank you.

Anyway, head of the SEC writing in the Wall Street Journal.

Guess how many times he mentions the environment?

I mean, here you look at it. - Geez.

- Did that article mention anything

about the environmental concerns of crypto?

- Hold on, I'm checking.

- Here, I'll just tell you, it doesn't.

The SEC doesn't care about the environment.

That's the EPA.

The SEC cares about one thing.

Protecting Americans from being scammed.

So yeah, it is amazing that the Ethereum blockchain

was able to get off of its insane energy consumption.

That is a great step, but the crypto verse is still riddled

with the same old problems it's always had.

The problems that the SEC is rearing to sort out with a bit

of good old regulation.

♪ Regulators ♪ - Calls are being renewed

for oversight and legislation from Congress.

- But wait, they're not gonna like ban crypto in the U.S.?

Like this isn't China, right?

- Ha, yes, thank you.

This is all overblown.

- I mean, yeah, they're not gonna ban it completely.

You're totally right.

But they could reclassify crypto

as a security instead of a commodity.

Right Johnny Law?

- I mean, yeah, theoretically they could.

- Yeah, I'm gonna be honest.

I don't know what that means.

- Basically what this means is that crypto would now

be registered with the SEC.

Like Ethereum would have to register Ether

and all other applications with the government.

- Yeah, that doesn't sound great

for the whole untraceable, unregulated

crypto utopia philosophy.

- No, it doesn't.

- Okay, okay.

You've talked with all your nerdy regulation stuff.

This is 100% speculation.

There's no proof that they're actually gonna do this.

And besides, even if they do a regulated

but still decentralized monetary system is a lot better

than a regulated centralized one

like the one that we have with banks.

- I am so glad you brought that up.

- Oh, this is getting good.

- So let's talk about decentralization.

It's one of the main pillars

of the whole crypto project, right?

- Yeah, obviously.

- Great, then you'll be interested to know

that since they did this big Merge,

this big flip to proof of stake

almost half of all transactions now happening on

the Ethereum blockchain are taking place from two addresses.

Only two, two addresses.

So much for decentralized.

- Yeah, but the fact - - Oh wait, I'm not done yet.

One sec.

I just need to say one more thing

which is all of those farms that I'm telling you

about that are now like defunct and obsolete.

Do you really think those people are just gonna

like pack up and go home and be like,

"Well, we have no use for our like hundreds

"of expensive computers and mining farms in Iceland?"

No, they're just gonna switch to another blockchain

that can use their computers to do the same old thing

that they've been doing forever, which is mining blockchain

through proof of work.

That energy consumption isn't disappearing.

It's just being transferred.

- Holy shit.

Sorry, sorry, but a couple weeks ago I was in Switzerland.

- Is there ever gonna be a video

where you don't mention Switzerland?

- Seriously, dude?

- No, of course not.

But anyway, when I was in that Swiss bunker, which was right

around the time that this Merge was happening, it was

like the end of September, they told me that they

were shutting down their mining operation

for a little bit.

- [Crypto Miner] Just last week.

It says it's not making money right now.

So I'll take a break. - [Johnny] Yeah.

- And it must have been because of the Merge.

- Cool and their next step was to just like destroy all

of those really expensive computers

and revamp the bunker to be some hip Airbnb?

Is that what their plan was?

- I mean, no, they're probably just looking

for like other blockchains

to like use all their hardware on.

- Yeah, exactly.

It was sort of a rhetorical thing.

I didn't know you were gonna actually try

to answer the question.

That was kind of embarrassing.

- Okay, I'm gonna cut you off there

because it's my turn to speak, okay.

You've been just blabbering this whole time.

So yes, a lot of these miners are moving

to other blockchains to use their big mining farms

but this is just the beginning.

This is early days.

Do you realize all technologies start out clunky?

You wanna hear my prediction?

The biggest effect isn't the big graph that goes

down to zero of all of its energy consumption.

It's how it's gonna inspire other blockchains

to do the same thing.

To adopt proof of stake.

Like imagine if the Bitcoin blockchain

adopted proof of stake.

It would change the world.

It would literally change the world.

- But that's never gonna happen.

Bitcoin has zero plans to switch

to proof of stake or any other way of verifying.

And unlike Ethereum, which is run like a business.

They have a CEO that can actually make these decisions

top down Bitcoin is this super decentralized project.

You would need 51%

of the users to all agree to switch something this big.

It's not gonna happen anytime soon.

- But they might not have a choice.

If the rest

of this master plan that Ethereum has goes as smoothly

as the Merge, then it's gonna be more

of a case of adapt or die.

- Wait a plan, what are you talking?

- Oh, you haven't heard?

The Merge is just the beginning.

Oh man, buckle up for this one.

After the Merge, we have the Surge

then the Verge, then the Purge, then the Splurge.

- Really, the Splurge?

Why do these tech companies always have to come

up with these cutesy (beep) naming things?

- The Surge is just the next part of the master plan.

It involves massively scaling up the Ethereum blockchain

which is way easier to do now

that we have proof of stake verification.

Okay, so you're probably asking what would this scaling

up even do?

- I actually didn't ask.

- It would mean instead

of the Ethereum blockchain being able to perform

like 20 transactions per second, it would be able to perform

over a hundred thousand transactions in a second.

Guys, this is huge.

Don't even get me started on the Verge.

- Yada, yada, yada.

I feel like this is just another set

of empty words to get people excited

so they invest in the math money project that you're doing.

Every time we talk about crypto, it seems

like it always goes to this.

Some like life changing, world changing technology

that's just right around the corner if we all just believe.

It just feels like yet another stop

along the crypto hype train and I'm not here for it.

- Okay, okay.

I think I'm gonna call it there guys.

- But Johnny, I wanted to talk about the Verge.

- Zip it Crypto Johnny.

I'm shutting it down, okay?

We've had enough.

You can talk about the Verge when inevitably

I make another one of these videos in like six months.

'Cause apparently that's what I do now.

For now, let me just say this.

The Merge was indeed an incredible technical feat.

It was a huge boon for the environment.

I mean, that graph is insane.

This is gonna be a great thing

for the planet no matter what

but will it save the cryptoverse alone?

Probably not.

There are way more trials and tribulations to overcome.

This technology is barely a decade old.

We don't have to have these strong opinions on either side.

The reality is none of us know what's gonna happen next.

So why don't we all just agree to sit back, relax

and see what happens next.

- Nope, not gonna happen.

- He says the same thing every time.

"Let's all hold hands and be friends."

No. - Okay, I'd give up.

- Whatever, do you guys wanna go get beer or something?

- I've actually been super into hard kombucha lately.

- Of course you have.

- Yeah, I actually know a great place down the road.

Let's go.

- Okay, let's go. - Let's do it.

(upbeat music)