>> AS I JUST TRY TO PUT MY CRYPTO HEAD ON LET ME START WITH YOU, BECAUSE DO YOU FEEL VINDICATED TO SOME EXTENT LET ME READ A TWEET FROM BILL MILLER WHO SAID IT'S A GREAT DAY FOR BITCOIN. SHUTTING DOWN THESE CHOP SHOT ALSO BOLSTER CONFIDENCE. >> LET'S HOPE SO LET'S HOPE THAT SHUTTING DOWN BUCKET SHOP ALSO LEAD TO WHAT CRYPTO IS SUPPOSED TO DO IN REAL LIFE I SPENT TWO YEARS INVESTIGATE ING CRYPTO INTERVIEWING PEOPLE LIKE SAM BANKMAN FREED, GOING TO THE BITCOIN CONFERENCE IN MIAMI. SO THE STORY WILL KEEP EVOLVING, BUT I THINK THE QUESTION IS REALLY WHAT IS THE INNOVATION HERE BLOCK CHAIN, NOT NEW, OVER 30 YEARS OLD, GOES BACK TO 1991 SO WHAT IS THE INNOVATION? IS IT SEPARATING RETAIL TRADERS FROM THEIR MONEY >> LET ME ASK THIS, WHICH CAME OUT FROM THE CEO HIMSELF, WHO SAID IF ALL OF THIS IS THE CASE, WHY DID THE FCC LET US REGISTER AS A PUBLIC COMPANY? >> ANYONE IS ALLOWED TO REGISTER, AND COINBASE FILED THE RIGHT PAPER WORK YOU CAN BLAME GINSLER ALL YOU WANT, BUT HE WASN'T IN CHARGE THEN THAT'S AN INTERESTING QUESTION, AND A QUESTION THAT I COVER IN THE BOOK, HOW DID CRYPTO GROW T SUCH A DEGREE THAT 43 MILLION AMERICAN BOUGHT IT ONE OF THE ANSWERS IS THAT THERE IS A GRAY AREA BETWEEN COMMODITIES AND SECURITIES REGULATION THAT, YOU KNOW, OBVIOUSLY MANIFESTS WITH THE FCC AND DIFFERENT COMMITTEES, DIFFERENT JURISDICTIONS. AND BASICALLY THE NOTION THAT WHAT IS A COMMODITY VSHS WHAT IS A SECURITY IT CAN BE CLASSIFIED AS A COMMODITY IF IT'S NOT BEEN CLASSIFIED AS A SECURITY THAT'S CREATED A GRAY AREA SO IT'S AN AREA THAT I THINK CRYPTO HAS EXPLOITED >> LET'S BRING EMILY INTO THIS CONVERSATION WHAT DO YOU THINK THE TYPICAL RETAIL HOLDER OF THESE CRYPTO ASSETS IS LIKELY TO DO IN RESPONSE TO EVERYTHING THAT'S HAPPENED OVER THE LAST 24 HOURS? >> ALL I CAN SAY IS IF YOU LOOK AT THE PRICES RIGHT NOW, REMARKABLY GREEN CONSIDERING WHAT'S JUST HAPPENED THE FCC HAS JUST FILED LAWSUITS AGAINST A, THE LARGEST CRYPTO CURRENCY EX-CHANGE IN THE WORLD AND IN AMERICA BY A LONG SHOT. AND YOU HAVE CRYPTO PRICES BY THE STANDARDS OF CRYPTO VOLATILITY THAT ARE RELATIVELY STATIC YOU'RE NOT SEEING MAJOR STANDARD CHANGES. SO IN THAT SENSE, I WOULD AGREE THAT THIS IS BULLISH FOR CRYPTO. I MEAN, IF THIS IS GOING TO TAKE CRYPTO DOWN, I'M NOT SURE WHAT WILL SO IF YOU ARE LOOKING AT PRICES ITSELF, AND SPECIFICALLY BITCOIN, THIS IS KIND OF LIKE A FLUKE OF CONCEPT BITCOIN APPEARS TO BE ONE OF, IF NOT THE ONLY TOKE THAN IS DECENTRALIZED ENOUGH TO NOT BE CONSIDERED A SECURITY IN THE UNITED STATES. BITCOIN IS NOT REACTING THAT MUCH TO THIS NEWS THE PAST 24 HOURS. >> HOW ARE INVESTORS SUPPOSED TO ENGAGE WITH THESE PLATFORMS, OR ARE THESE PLATFORMS GOING TO BE MOVED OVERSEAS AND WHAT WOULD THE IMPACT THEN BE >> RIGHT I THINK FINANCE IS VERY ACTIVE ALL OVER THE WORLD, SO I'M NOT SURE HOW CRITICAL THE U.S. MARKET IS TO ITS SURVIVAL. FINANCE HAS BEEN SAYING IT DOESN'T HAVE U.S. INVESTORS. COIN CABASE IS -- I THINK THE PE ACTION INDICATES THAT, YOU KNOW, THERE IS CRYPTO INVESTMENT AND TRADE HAPPENING ALL OVER THE WORLD. SO WORST CASE SCENARIO, AND THESE COMPANIES CAN'T MAKE IT IN THE U.S., IT'S NOT THE END OF THE CRYPTO STOREY. EUROPE IS BECOMING INCREASINGLY AN IMPORTANT PLAYER IN CRYPTO. AND ASIA, NOW YOU HAVE HONG KONG SO THE STORY IS FAR FROM OVER. >> BEN, I'LL GIVE YOU THE LAST WORD >> IT'S NOT AN HONEST MARKET >> WHAT'S NOT HONEST ABOUT IT? IF I SAY I LIKE THE BITCOIN WHITE PAPER AND I WANT TO HOLD IT -- >> AS LONG AS YOU'RE WILLING TO PUT REAL MONEY IN SOMETHING THAT CALLS ITSELF A CURRENCY, THAT IS NOT A CURRENCY -- >> IT'S LIKE DIGITAL GOLD KIND OF >> AS LONG AS YOU'RE WILLING TO SEPARATE FROM YOUR REAL MONEY IN THE HOPES THAT YOU CAN MAKE SOMETHING OUT OF THIS INVESTMENT, GO FOR IT. I WOULD CAUTION YOU AND ENCOURAGE YOU TO READ OR LISTEN TO MY BOOK, JUST -- I DON'T KNOW, TAKE A GANDER. I SPENT TWO YEARS LOOKING AT THIS I INTERVIEWED SAM BEFORE HE WAS ARRESTED WE TALK ABOUT FINANCE, JACOB AND I WROTE AN ARTICLE ABOUT FINANCE IN "THE WASHINGTON POST" LAST
