“If I were a person running a country,” Joe Rogan worried, “I’d be terrified of this shit.” Rogan is host of arguably the world’s most popular podcast in English, the Joe Rogan Experience. He spent a great amount of time today discussing cryptocurrency, blockchain, and the evolution of the technology. First aired 2pm PST in a live stream on Tuesday, 4 December 2018, #1211 featured guest Dr. Ben Goertzel. In a wide-ranging interview, Goertzel introduced Joe Rogan to Ethereum and its history, and even initial coin offerings (ICOs).

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Joe Rogan Learns about Ethereum, Blockchain, and ICOs

At about an hour into their very tech, sci-fi conversation, Joe Rogan hears the word Ethereum. “What is Ethereum?” he asks. “What’s that?” Boy, did Rogan pick a great guy to ask that question.

Goertzel is CEO SingularityNET and Cheif Scientist at Hanson Robotics, and has gigs at @opencog and @HumanityPlus. He’s also a huge believer in Artificial Intelligence, which is more or less why Rogan had him as a guest in the first place.

Goertzel took his time, answering by explaining how Ethereum is the number two crypto in the world (technically number three). “That’s how out of the loop I am,” Rogan admitted. “Did you know about it?” he asked of his sidekick, Jamie.

“What’s an ICO?” Rogan Asks

Detailing how it was invented with “nice software,” Goertzel gave technical aspects of Ethereum, its history, and even delved into smart contracts. The great aspect of his answers to Rogan were how nuanced they were. Smart contracts aren’t really smart or contracts, for example.

Rogan was enraptured, listening carefully. Goertzel gives shout outs to Vitalik Buterin and Joe Lubin, painting a rounded, full-bodied picture of where crypto has come and where it might be going.

“How popular is this?” Rogan asks. Goertzel explains it’s very popular, and evidences how almost every initial coin offering (ICO) was attempted on the platform. “What’s an ICO?” Rogan asks more.

High Optimism

After a further examination of all that blockchain and Ethereum have wrought and might still achieve, Rogan leans back and pronounces, “I have high optimism for cryptocurrencies. Kids today in particular who have grow up with the internet as a constant force in their lives are likely to embrace something along those lines.”

It’s a great time for crypto to get this kind of sober exposure, and the more detailed discussion the better. Working out in public its kinks and problems, along with its promise, might just spark the next ten year’s wave of innovations and businesses.

Rogan is best known as a stand up comic/mixed martial arts fanatic, and his podcast The Joe Rogan Experience is one of the most downloaded of its kind.

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