For those of you blissfully ignorant of cryptocurrency, I appreciate your dedication to dodging the millions of articles, blogs, podcasts, headlines, tweets and variety of other post on the subject. Cryptocurrency does have a sexy name for something as mind numbingly dull as decentralized finance.

Here’s my 101. It is a type of currency that is not associated with the banks and not backed by an asset like gold or silver. It is made up like all forms of money, but, in some financial markets & marketplaces that support it, it can be used to buy goods & services like other money. Yes, it’s boring, but also exciting because it is hard to trace and as volatile as Rodney Dangerfield in Easy Money.

Crypto can make you a bunch on money if played right or you can lose it all. Lets call it the Vegasication of buying & selling currency. Blame the pandemic. Regardless, it’s here to stay and is the future, but like my man Rodney, it gets no respect. Blame the bankers. It’s an existential threat to their business model. But even as the big banks publicly claim these new currencies are garbage, they have all quietly opened divisions to trade and manage this future facing asset. So don’t believe the hype and invest with your brain, not your emotions.

Full disclosure: I own zero cryptocurrency. This post should not encourage or discourage you from investing in it. Maybe don’t buy or sell while high. That’s my advice.