The latest episode of âThe Simpsonsâ delved into the complex world of cryptocurrencies, managing to break the subject down so just about anyone can understand it.
Titled âFrinkcoin,â the show listed on Fox on Feb. 24 features âTVâs most beloved scientistâ and âThe Big Bang Theoryâ star Jim Parsons as he appears on-screen to talk about âthe really cool subject of distributed consensus-based cryptocurrency.â
âFor cryptocurrencies to work, we need a record of every transaction that occurs. These are recorded in whatâs called a distributed ledger,â Parsons (whoâs definitely ânot a nerdâ) says.
Enter an animated ledger book that sings, in a slow blues style, a good portion of the tutorial:
"I'm a consensus of shared and synchronized digital data
spread across multiple platforms from Shanghai to Grenada.
Each day I'm closer to being cash of the future.
Not in your wallet, I'm in your computer."
âWhen you use the currency, the transaction is recorded in the ledger,â Parsons continues, âand when one ledger book gets filled up, we add to a chain of previous books â thatâs the blockchain.â
According to a press release, Parsons voiced himself for the episode, which features Professor Frink as the subject of a Lisa Simpson school essay, creating his own âFrinkcoinâ cryptocurrency. Ultimately, he surpasses Mr. Burns as richest man in Springfield.
The snippet also takes a dig at the crypto space with a concluding text that raises the environmental cost of cryptocurrency production and ends with a statement referring to the mysterious inventor of bitcoin: âAlso, we know who Satoshi is, but weâre not telling.â