Hilarious: Colbert Explains Bitcoin

Last night on the Colbert Report, Stephen Colbert decided it was time to explain Bitcoin and as you would expect, it was quite hilarious. If you’re not familiar with what Bitcoin is don’t fret because the video will explain, but essentially it’s a virtual currency created by some person or people, of whom we know nothing about. There are only a finite amount of Bitcoin available and they can be traded between computers.

Additionally, since there is no bank or government backing the currency it only has value if people say it does (and are willing to accept it as payment). In the past few weeks the price of Bitcoin has risen dramatically, so much so that one Bitcoin was worth over $260, however, has since dropped off from that high significantly. Currently, one Bitcoin is worth about $96 according to the Mt.Gox Bitcoin exchange.

Colbert notes in the first video that you can get Bitcoin by mining it, “Which is like using your computer to crunch a bunch of numbers or something,” and then goes onto say you can also buy it, “So as a shrewd investor, I waited for just the right moment.”

Definitely check out both videos below, they are thoroughly entertaining.