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Are 'Cryptokitties' the Next Bitcoin?

December 05, 2017
Staff

WRITER

One bitcoin now equals $11,245 in U.S. dollars. Will the cryptocurrency market continue to rise, or is it a bubble? Glenn and Stu debated this question on today’s show while talking about an adorable new trend in digital currency: collectible “CrypoKitties.”

Huh?

A CryptoKitty is a digital collectible that’s basically the online version of a valuable trading card. People are spending real money on these virtual kitties — $1.3 million has been transacted by the game so far.

How does it work?

Based on the Ethereum blockchain technology that fuels the world’s second largest digital currency, CryptoKitties works with the digital wallet MetaMask and accepts the digital payment ether. If you want more details, the website has a handy FAQ section.

Will I lose my CryptoKitty when the game isn’t trendy anymore?

According to the creators, no. “Each cat is one-of-a-kind and 100% owned by you; it cannot be replicated, taken away, or destroyed,” the website says. Because the game is decentralized, CryptoKitties can live forever on the Ethereum blockchain, unlike other web games that are stored on a database and depend on the company continuing to host them.

This article provided courtesy of TheBlaze.

GLENN: Interesting weekend for bitcoin. It went from 12,000 to a low of 10,6. Do you know why?

This is actually something you should watch. Do you know why it had such a big blip? It lost 1,000 bucks, that fast. You know why?

STU: I don't know why, no.

GLENN: Telegraph reported, right about the time of the big drop, in the UK, that they are now -- the UK is going to launch a crackdown on the virtual currency bitcoin, amid growing concern it's being used to launder money and dodge tax.

So now you have England saying, we're going to look into this. We might start regulation. So it went down. Almost 2,000 points. And then by the end of the day, it had bounced back up. What is it at now?

STU: 11,300.

GLENN: 11,300.

STU: What a disappointment. From 800 in January.

GLENN: A lot of people say that bitcoin is in a bubble. And you could make the case. And a pretty strong case that it's in a bubble. One that I haven't really been willing to look at.

STU: This time it's different. It's never going to stop. It's always --

GLENN: Right. It's never different.

However, I think I have the evidence that makes me say, we are definitely in a bubble. Here it is: Launched just a few days ago, crypto kitties -- crypto kitties, essentially like a digital version of Pokémon cards, but based on the Ethereum block chain, is becoming one of the biggest viral sensations to catch on in the tech world.

Design studio. People are spending a crazy amount of really money on the game. So far, about $1.3 million has been transacted with multiple kittens, selling for 50 Ethereum coins. And the genius kitten being sold for a record of 246. That's $113,000.

So here's what it is: I think -- I think there are only a certain number of virtual kitties that are born.

STU: And when you say -- you mean like cats. Little cats? Digital cats?

GLENN: Little digital cat. Okay? Just a digital cat. And they're born through the block chain.

STU: So stupid.

GLENN: So you buy a cat that is a digital block chain cat.

STU: Uh-huh.

GLENN: And then you can interact with the digital cat. Let's see what it says that you do, I know the idea is to trade. It's like Beanie Babies. To trade and to buy a better cat, that doesn't exist.

STU: Okay. So it's a bubble. We can now clarify.

GLENN: Yeah, it's definitely a bubble. What you do is you collect cats. Here are the cats right here. How to play. There are are the cats.

STU: They all look pretty much the same.

GLENN: They're very different.

STU: They're very different?

GLENN: No, they're very different. Game was ceded with 100 founder kitties. This -- there's also a new gen HEP zero cat, released every 15 minutes, which are listed for the average price of the last five sold, plus 50 percent. But the sale price declines over 24 hours, until somebody actually buys the cat. Anyone can sell their kittens via an auction, where they pick a starting price and an ending price. And the price declines over time, until someone buys the cat.

So, for example, I could put a kitten up for sale for a one-day auction at one Ethereum coin.

STU: Ether or Ethereum.

GLENN: Yeah, Ethereum coin. Starting at one and an ending price of zero.

And if somebody buys it 12 hours after the auction starts, they pay me .5 Ethereum points.

STU: Which is like a couple hundred bucks.

GLENN: You can also create new kittens by breeding them.

STU: Okay. So block chain sex is basically what's happening?

GLENN: No. Block chain cartoon kitty sex.

STU: That's much more --

GLENN: So you are taking money that has no real value, because it doesn't actually exist. You're buying that bogus money, and you're trading that bogus money for a bogus cat.

(chuckling)

GLENN: That doesn't exist. And your hope is that you're going to sell that fake cat. Or breed a better fake cat. And sell it for more of the fake coins than anybody else.

STU: Obviously -- did you feel the need to explain that to the audience?

GLENN: No, I was just talked down to a couple of the slow people that don't really understand that, yes, indeed, perhaps this is a bubble.

(music)

STU: It's funny. You brought up Beanie Babies. People talk about in this bubble way. That's such a fascinating story. I did an interview with a guy who wrote a book about it. And I think it's called the great Beanie Baby bubble.

And you think, it's kind of a silly topic. It's a fascinating story, though. This guy was going around trying -- he was a real big entrepreneur. And decided to try to do this -- create these little animals that he would sell and make money off of.

And really, the big -- the reason why the Beanie Baby thing was so big for that time, was that he decided to call these things -- instead of just discontinuing them, he started calling them retired.

GLENN: Ah.

STU: And when he said retired, as soon as he said, we're going to retire this stupid Beanie Baby, people would rush to stores and bid the price high.

So the whole time, the entire process was people trying to figure out who would next be retired. Because as soon as they got retired, the price would go up. And the people buying the new ones were basically on the idea that eventually there would be a retirement and they would be able to cash in.

And what -- the guy who wound up doing it, was obsessed with these things. Meticulous, to the point of he would spend hours looking over samples of the eyes. Took it super seriously. And designed like every one of these things. And he wound up making like $2 billion off of this.

It's -- kind of came and went.

GLENN: So how many people have parents who collected the Beanie Babies?

STU: Oh, yeah.

GLENN: And they have a closet full of the Beanie Babies. And you know at the time, Beanie Babies, it's not going to work. You're not going to retire on the Beanie Baby money. And they saved them. And they have them. Now is the time where you -- where you -- where the -- where boys are boys and men arrive. The men say, the hell my Beanie Baby collection isn't going to be worth something. I'm keeping it.

(chuckling)

Because everybody is looking at their Beanie Baby collection now going, this is so stupid. Get rid of it. Once everybody gets rid of it, those who save those Beanie Babies.

STU: And you carry that dream to your grave, don't you?

GLENN: Yeah, I'm going to lock them all in my coffin with me.

STU: It's funny. Who knows there's more technology involved in it than Beanie Babies. So you think it may have a little bit more --

GLENN: The kitties?

STU: Yeah, well...

GLENN: No. Dear God -- Stu, don't try to talk yourself into the kitties have value.

STU: I'm talking this technology.

GLENN: Oh, the block chain. The block chain has -- yeah, the block chain kitties don't have any value. But block chain.

STU: Well, everything has what the market assigns to it, right?

GLENN: That is crazy.

STU: You just got to wait for the right buyer. And it's usually a moron.

GLENN: So I you think. For instance, tell me the tulip story, that you know.

STU: The tulip story is there became this sort irrational exuberance, is the phrase they often use in these terms.

GLENN: Yeah, yeah.

STU: And they started trading them as currency.

GLENN: So why did it -- what was the spark for it? What happened? How is that possible?

STU: It's been a while. I don't remember. Right?

GLENN: Okay. So I never heard it -- here's the thing: This was at the time when people were just starting to keep gardens and starting to have lawns and everything else. And the really, really, really rich people were starting to do that. The bulb, I don't know where the tulip bulb came from. I'm not deep in the book. I'm kind of scanning it.

But the -- the idea that all of a sudden a thing of beauty, it's looked at as art, this one bulb, is -- is art. Okay? So you could put this in your house. Or you could put this in front of your house or whatever, and it's a thing of beauty and a thing of art. So it's like the art craze, it doesn't even look like anything. That's just a blue canvas. No, it's worth $121 million. Okay. Good for you.

Same thing. They thought this was a thing of beauty and a thing of art. And they thought there was only one of them. And so they thought, this is going to catch on. Because all the rich people are going to want them all in their gardens, all over the world. Which they did. It just didn't work out as well as they thought because you can make more of them.

STU: You can make more tulips?

GLENN: Yes, you can. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

STU: There's inflation in the tulip market?

GLENN: Yeah.

STU: It does seem that way.

GLENN: But you can see -- you can see how people like bitcoin wait a minute. Hang on. There weren't a lot of tulips. We think now, tulips, they're everywhere. Not a lot of tulips. And they're making new tulips. I don't know how you breed tulips. But they're making new ones. People are going to have these things called lawns. And they're going to want a flower box. It was at the beginning of flower boxes and bringing flowers in.

STU: Right.

GLENN: You don't really even think of it like that, you know.

STU: It's a bit of a stretch.

GLENN: It's why it was a bubble in disaster.

STU: Okay. Okay.

GLENN: But, again, you can kind of -- like, I can't make a case for the kitty cats. Can't. No. Can't.

STU: This is a pet rock, right?

GLENN: No. No. The pet rock cost, what? Two dollars? People are spending $150 on --

STU: The same thing with Beanie Babies. Every one of these trends, you can always say, a Cabbage Patch what level of entertainment, enjoyment, it gives the individual. That's why things happen on the market. There's a lot of stuff that -- I see purses that my wife buys, and I think that looks like it's worth $12. And it's not.

GLENN: Again, not at all.

STU: No.

GLENN: And, again, that is a thing that is tangible.

STU: Yeah.

GLENN: That is a thing that goes with style.

STU: But that is something -- that's a weird. That's an old timey observation. Right? We used to say the same thing. That company, they don't even produce anything. That's what we used to say when the, quote, unquote, internet bubble happened. And now I'm pretty sure that one wound up being big. That internet thing.

GLENN: All right.

STU: I already have 12. They're on sale.

GLENN: Yes, but I have the genius kitty.

The Deep State's NEW plan to backstab Trump

Brandon Bell / Staff | Getty Images

We cannot make the same mistake we made in 2016 — celebrating victory while the deep state plots its next move.

In 2016, Donald Trump shocked the world by defeating Hillary Clinton. Conservatives cheered, believing we’d taken back the reins of our country. But we missed the bigger battle. We failed to recognize the extent of the damage caused by eight years of Barack Obama and decades of progressive entrenchment. The real war isn’t won at the ballot box. It’s being waged against an insidious force embedded deep within our institutions: the administrative state, or the “deep state.”

This isn’t a new problem. America’s founders foresaw it, though they didn’t have a term for “deep state” back in the 1700s. James Madison, in Federalist 48, warned us that combining legislative, executive, and judicial powers in the same hands is “the very definition of tyranny.” Yet today, that’s exactly where we stand. Unelected bureaucrats in agencies like the Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of Energy, and the Department of Justice hold more power than the officials we vote for. They control the levers of government with impunity, dictating policies and stifling change.

This is the fight for the soul of our nation. The founders’ vision of a constitutional republic is under siege.

We’ve felt the consequences of this growing tyranny firsthand. During COVID-19, so-called experts ran our lives, crushing civil liberties under the guise of public safety. Our intelligence agencies and justice system turned into weapons of political warfare, targeting a sitting president and his supporters. Meanwhile, actual criminals were given a pass, turning American cities into lawless war zones.

Thomas Jefferson wrote in 1816 that “the functionaries of every government have propensities to command at will the liberty and property of their constituents.” Today, we see Jefferson’s prophecy fulfilled. The deep state exercises unchecked power over our freedoms, and information itself is controlled by the fourth branch of government: the legacy media.

Even when we win elections, the deep state doesn’t concede defeat. It switches to survival mode. Trump’s first term proved this. Despite a historic mandate to dismantle the bureaucracy, the deep state fought back with everything it had: leaks, investigations, court rulings, and obstruction at every turn. And now, with the possibility of Trump returning to office, the deep state is preparing to do it again.

Progressives are laying out their attack plan — and they’re not even hiding it.

U.S. Rep. Wiley Nickel (D-N.C.) recently boasted about forming a “shadow cabinet” to govern alongside the deep state, regardless of who’s in the White House. Nickel called it “democracy’s insurance policy.” Let’s be clear: This isn’t insurance. It’s sabotage.

They’ll employ a “top down, bottom up, inside out” strategy to overwhelm and collapse any effort to reform the system. From the top, federal judges and shadow officials will block Trump’s every move. Governors in blue states like California and New York are gearing up to resist federal authority. During Trump’s first term, California filed over 100 lawsuits against his administration. Expect more of the same starting January 20.

From the bottom, progressive groups like the American Civil Liberties Union will flood the streets with protesters, much as they did to oppose Trump’s first-term immigration reforms. They’ve refined their tactics since 2016 and are prepared to unleash a wave of civil unrest. These aren’t spontaneous movements; they’re coordinated assaults designed to destabilize the administration.

Finally, from the inside, the deep state will continue its mission of self-preservation. Agencies will drag their feet, leak sensitive information, and undermine policies from within. Their goal is to make everything a chaotic mess, so the heart of their power — the bureaucratic core — remains untouched and grows stronger.

We cannot make the same mistake we made in 2016 — celebrating victory while the deep state plots its next move. Progressives never see themselves as losing. When they’re out of power, they simply shift tactics, pumping more blood into their bureaucratic heart. We may win elections, but the war against the deep state will only intensify. As George Washington warned in his Farewell Address, “Government is not reason, it is not eloquence — it is force; and force, like fire, is a dangerous servant and a fearful master.”

This is the fight for the soul of our nation. The founders’ vision of a constitutional republic is under siege. The deep state has shown us its plan: to govern from the shadows, circumventing the will of the people. But now that the shadows have been exposed, we have a choice. Will we accept this silent tyranny, or will we demand accountability and reclaim our nation’s heart?

The battle is just beginning. We can’t afford to lose.

Editor's Note: This article was originally published on TheBlaze.com.

Drone mystery exposes GLARING government incompetence

Gary Hershorn / Contributor | Getty Images

The drone issue is getting way out of hand.

Earlier this month, Glenn first reported on the mysterious drones stalking the night sky over New Jersey, but the situation is increasingly concerning as the sightings have escalated. Not only have drones been seen across the Northeast Coast, including over New York City, Maryland, and Pennsylvania, but recently, they have been spotted over the night skies of San Diego and other parts of Southern California.

It doesn't take an expert to identify the potential dangers and risks that dozens of undetectable, unidentified six-foot or larger drones pose to national security. Yet, our government's response has been one of unimaginable incompetence, leaving us to speculate on the origin and intention of these drones and wonder in astonishment at the government's ineptitude. Here are three examples of the government's lackluster response to the mystery drones:

Iranian Mothership and Missing Nuclear Warheads

- / Stringer | Getty Images

After several weeks of hubbub, New Jersey Representative, Jeff Van Drew gave an interview on Fox News where he claimed that the drones originated from an Iranian "mothership" off the East Coast of the United States. This theory has since been disproven by satellite images, which show that all Iranian drone carriers are far from U.S. shores. Another theory suggests that drones may be equipped with sensors capable of detecting nuclear material and that they are looking for a nuclear warhead that recently went missing! With these apocalyptic theories gaining traction in the absence of any real answer from our government, one can't help but question the motive behind the silence.

Pentagon's Limp Wristed Response

Alex Wong / Staff | Getty Images

In a recent press conference, national security spokesman John Kirby responded to reporters demanding answers about the government's lack of transparency, which has caused increasing public anxiety. He insisted that the drones did not pose a threat and were not assets of a foreign power, such as from Iran or China--even though he is still uncertain about their identity and origin. He also claimed that many of the sightings were simply misidentifications of normal aircraft.

This lackluster answer has only further inflamed national anxieties and raised even more questions. If the government is unsure of the identity of the drones, how do they know if they are a threat or if they aren't foreign assets? If they aren't foreign, does that mean they are U.S. assets? If so, why not just say so?

The Pentagon has also stated that they are leaving it up to local law enforcement to spearhead the investigation after concluding that these drones pose no threat to any military installation. This has left many feeling like the federal government has turned a blind eye to a serious issue that many Americans are very concerned about.

Where's Pete Buttigieg?

Chip Somodevilla / Staff | Getty Images

We are in the closing weeks of the Biden administration, and with the finish line in sight, Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg probably figured nothing else could go wrong on his watch—but boy was he wrong. As Secretary of Transportation, Buttigieg is in charge of the FAA, the agency responsible for managing all air traffic across the nation. One would think that mysterious, 6-foot-long, seemingly intractable drones are invisible on radar and flying above major cities would pose a serious threat to the myriad of legal aircraft that traverse our skies. Yet, Buttigieg has been silent on the issue, adding another failure to his resume which includes: malfunctioning airplanes, the train derailment in Ohio, and the Baltimore Key Bridge collapse, just to name a few.

Glenn: How Alvin Bragg turned hero Daniel Penny into a villain

Michael M. Santiago / Staff | Getty Images

We cannot allow corrupt institutions to punish those who act to protect life and liberty.

America no longer has a single, shared understanding of justice. Two Americas now exist, each applying justice differently depending on who you are and where you live. One America, ruled by common sense and individual courage, praises heroes who stand up to protect others. The other, driven by political agendas and corrupted institutions, punishes those same heroes for daring to act.

This stark division couldn’t be clearer than in the case of Daniel Penny, the Marine whose trial in New York City this week drew strong reactions from both sides across the divided line of justice.

If we let this slide, we accept a world in which heroes are treated as criminals and the law is a weapon for ideological warfare.

Penny was on a subway train last year when Jordan Neely — a man suffering from severe mental illness and reportedly high on drugs — began threatening passengers, saying, “I’m going to kill you all.” The fear on that subway car was palpable, but nobody moved. Nobody, that is, until Penny did what needed to be done. He took action to protect innocent lives.

In the America many of us used to believe in, Penny’s response would be heralded as heroic. His actions mirrored the courage of Todd Beamer on Flight 93, who, on September 11, 2001, rallied others with the words, “Let’s roll,” to prevent further tragedy. But in New York, courage doesn’t seem to count anymore. There, the system turns heroes into villains.

Penny subdued Neely using a chokehold, intending only to restrain him, not kill him. Tragically, Neely died. Penny, filled with remorse, told the police he never meant to hurt anyone. Yet, instead of being recognized for protecting others from a clear and present threat, Penny stood trial for criminally negligent homicide.

In Alvin Bragg’s New York, justice bends to ideology. The Manhattan district attorney has made a career of weaponizing the law, selectively prosecuting those who don’t fit his narrative. He’s the same prosecutor who twisted legal precedent to go after Donald Trump on business charges no one had ever faced before. Then, he turned his sights on Daniel Penny.

A jury may have acquitted Penny, but what happened in New York City this week isn’t justice. When the rule of law changes depending on the defendant’s identity or the prosecutor's political motives, we’re no longer living in a free country. We’re living in a state where justice is a game, and ordinary Americans are the pawns.

The system failed Jordan Neely

It’s worth asking: Where were activists like Alvin Bragg when Neely was suffering on the streets? Jordan Neely was a tragic figure — a man with a long history of mental illness and over 40 arrests, including violent assaults. The system failed him long before he stepped onto that subway train. Yet rather than confront that uncomfortable truth, Bragg’s office decided to target the man who stepped in to prevent a tragedy.

This isn’t about justice. It’s about power. It’s about advancing a narrative where race and identity matter more than truth and common sense.

It’s time to demand change

The Daniel Penny case — and others like it — is a wake-up call. We cannot allow corrupt institutions to punish those who act to protect life and liberty. Americans must demand an end to politically driven prosecutions, hold DAs like Alvin Bragg accountable, and stand up for the principle that true justice is blind, consistent, and fair.

If we let this slide, we accept a world in which heroes are treated as criminals and the law is a weapon for ideological warfare. It’s time to choose which America we want to live in.

Editor's Note: This article was originally published on TheBlaze.com.

CEO Brian Thompson's killer reveals COWARDICE of the far-left death cult

Jeff Swensen / Stringer | Getty Images

Early on the chilly morning of Wednesday, December 4th, Brian Thompson, CEO of health insurance giant, UnitedHealthcare, was walking through Midtown Manhattan on his way to a company conference. Suddenly, a masked and hooded figure silently allegedly stepped onto the sidewalk behind Thompson, drew a 3-D printed, silenced pistol, and without warning fired multiple shots into Thompson's back before fleeing the scene on an electric bicycle. After a multiple-day manhunt, a 26-year-old lead suspect was arrested at a McDonald's in Altoona, Pennsylvania after being recognized by an employee.

This was not "vigilante justice." This was cold-blooded murder.

As horrific as the murder of a husband and father in broad daylight in the center of New York City is, the story only gets worse. Even before the murder suspect was arrested, left-wing extremists were already taking to X to call him a "hero" and a "vigilante" who "took matters into his own hands." Even the mainstream media joined in on the glorification, as Glenn pointed out on air recently, going out of the way to show how physically attractive the murder suspect was. This wave of revolting and nihilistic fanfare came in response to the findings of online investigators who surmised the murder suspect's motives to retaliate against healthcare companies for corruption and denied coverage. The murder suspect supposedly underwent a major back surgery that left him with back pain, and some of his internet fans apparently viewed his murder of Thompson as retribution for the mistreatment that he and many other Americans have suffered from healthcare companies.

The murder suspect and his lackeys don't seem to understand that, other than depriving two children of their father right before Christmas, he accomplished nothing.

The murder suspect failed to achieve his goal because he was too cowardly to try.

If the murder suspect's goals were truly to "right the wrongs" of the U.S. healthcare system, he had every tool available to him to do so in a constructive and meaningful manner. He came from a wealthy and prominent family in the Baltimore area, became the valedictorian at a prestigious all-boys prep school, and graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a master's in engineering. Clearly, the murder suspect was intelligent and capable, and if he had put his talent into creating solutions for the healthcare industry, who knows what he could have accomplished?

This is the kind of behavior the far-left idolizes, like communists on college campuses who wear shirts that celebrate the brutal Cuban warlord, Che Guevara. Merchandise celebrating the UnitedHealthcare CEO murder suspect is already available, including shirts, hoodies, mugs, and even Christmas ornaments. Will they be sporting his face on their T-shirts too?

This macabre behavior does not breed creation, achievement, success, or life. It only brings death and risks more Americans falling into this dangerous paradigm. But we still have a chance to choose life. We just have to wake up and take it.