--- description: Bitcoin “combines everything you don’t understand about money with everything you don’t understand about computers,” says John Oliver title: John Oliver Tackles Cryptocurrencies on 'Last Week Tonight' image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- * [Entertainment](/section/entertainment/) ## Entertainment Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Television](/tag/television/) ## Television Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # John Oliver and Keegan-Michael Key Remind Investors to Be Careful with Bitcoin by [Melissa Locker](/author/melissa-locker/) ## Melissa Locker Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Mar 12, 2018 7:22 AM CUT by [Melissa Locker](/author/melissa-locker/) ## Melissa Locker Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Mar 12, 2018 7:22 AM CUT Despite the fact that “discussions of new technology tend to age badly,” John Oliver focused Sunday night’s episode of _Last Week Tonight_ discussing just that. “Technology, the thing that will make television so high def that I will no longer be allowed to appear on it,” he said. Specifically, Oliver wanted to discuss cryptocurrencies, the virtual currency that combines “everything you don’t understand about money … with everything you don’t understand about computers.” Cryptocurrencies have been grabbing headlines lately thanks to the surprisingly dramatic rise in the value of [Bitcoin](http://time.com/money/5183550/11-people-were-just-busted-in-whats-being-called-the-big-bitcoin-heist/?iid=sr-link4 "undefined"). While that has [dropped in value](http://time.com/money/5192850/bitcoin-price-cryptocurrency-market/?iid=sr-link1 "undefined") recently, cryptocurrencies are engendering a “cult-like devotion” among enthusiasts who see the bank-free currency as the key to “financial freedom, bro.” For his part, Oliver seems to think of cryptocurrency as akin to collecting Beanie Babies in that they are valuable if people agree they have value. The other term that gets batted around with [cryptocurrency](http://time.com/money/5178950/the-irs-is-cracking-down-on-cryptocurrency-transactions-heres-what-that-means-for-you/?iid=sr-link3 "undefined") is “blockchain”, which allows for decentralized banking records that keeps track of all Bitcoin transactions making them “nearly impossible to hack,” according to Oliver, “which could possibly improve security, efficiency, and trust” for banks and large corporations. Blockchain is so buzzy, that companies that add it to their name are seeing their values triple. That led Oliver to the idea of changing his show’s name to _Last Bit Tonight with Block Chainiver_ in the hopes it would “triple the ratings.” As cryptocurrencies become more popular, Oliver is becoming increasingly skeptical. He pointed at Dogecoin — a cryptocurrency based on a meme starring a skeptical Shiba Inu—noting that “people buy coins for no other reason than that other people are buying them.” > [](https://twitter.com/LastWeekTonight/status/973040185121394694) As another case-study, Oliver pointed at Eos, a blockchain platform that has raised a [billion](http://time.com/money/5173291/how-much-bitcoin-does-elon-musk-bitcoin-own/?iid=sr-link7 "undefined") dollars even though it hasn’t [proven any use yet](https://news.bitcoin.com/eos-raises-700-million-despite-tokens-affording-no-rights-uses-purpose-or-features/ "undefined"). Oliver doesn’t think that Eos is going to be the next Google (“I could be wrong. I’m absolutely not, but I could be,” he said) but as gigantic sums of money fly around, he wants to remind investors and armchair speculators to be careful out there. To underline that point, Oliver conscripted Keegan-Michael Key for a crypto-culture inspired rap reminding people to be careful, or as crypto bros might call it, “craeful.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5195126/john-oliver-cryptocurrencies-last-week-tonight/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5195126/john-oliver-cryptocurrencies-last-week-tonight/"},"headline":"John Oliver and Keegan-Michael Key Remind Investors to Be Careful with Bitcoin","datePublished":"2018-03-12T07:22:50.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-31T11:32:02.279Z","description":"Be careful out there","url":"https://time.com/5195126/john-oliver-cryptocurrencies-last-week-tonight/","keywords":["Television","onetime","overnight"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Melissa Locker","jobTitle":"","url":"https://time.com/author/melissa-locker/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/television/","name":"Television"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5195126/john-oliver-cryptocurrencies-last-week-tonight/","name":"John Oliver and Keegan-Michael Key Remind Investors to Be Careful with Bitcoin"}}]}] ```