Writer and Producer John Oliveron Sunday, addressed the state of cryptocurrencies, such as Bitcoin BTC/USD And ether ETH/USD in his show “Last week tonight.“

What happened: The focus this time was on the industry’s array of high profile and expensive busts, the most notable being that of FTXa cryptocurrency exchange that collapsed late last year costing it billions of dollars.

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The arrest of the billionaire founder of FTX, Sam Bankman Fried, amid accusations of defrauding investors, Oliver said this was just the tip of the iceberg as many other dominoes fell into the crypto world.

Oliver went on to investigate the collapse of three companies – Terra, CelsiusAnd FTX – each “founded on the promise that they would replace part of our financial system”.

He reminded viewers that any cryptocurrency is simply something that “somebody invented with a laptop,” and its value rests on people’s trust in the person or group that created it. The story for each of the three companies was a story of trust gained that was ultimately lost.

Takes Dig at Do Kwon: Terra, launched in 2018 by South Korean entrepreneur Do Kwon, was advertised as a stable cryptocurrency, with each unit reportedly always equaling one US dollar, guaranteed by another cryptocurrency called Luna. Oliver compared this to someone offering to exchange your money for “blorps” — a supposedly valuable token they created themselves and promised to always be worth $1 using a “special algorithm”.

Oliver noted that the concept might sound complicated and silly, but many people are tempted when they hear the term “special algorithm” because it gives the impression of greater knowledge and expertise.

Oliver’s conclusion: “The truth is that scammers will thrive in a financial system where trust is the only real currency […] We…