[music playing]
CARL AZUZ: On this Monday in mid-November,
we're thankful you're taking 10 minutes for "CNN 10."
My name is Carl Azuz.
Here's something a little different
to start today's show.
Which of these currencies is worth the most in US dollars?
1 British pound, 1 euro, 1 yen, or 1 Bitcoin?
If you've been following cryptocurrencies
or digital currencies, you'll know the answer is Bitcoin.
In fact, 1 Bitcoin is worth more than $64,000 right now.
But the currency's value can also be its weakness.
What we mean by that is that the value can fluctuate wildly.
Back in May, after it had reached
a previous high value of $60,000, Bitcoin dropped by 50%
to be worth $30,000.
It may be the best known cryptocurrency,
but Bitcoin is not the only one.
Others include Ethereum, Binance coin, Moonriver, and Dogecoin.
There are dozens of cryptocurrencies out there.
And as they gain acceptance with big companies,
like PayPal and Microsoft, some organizations
are starting to pay their employees
at least partially in crypto.
But a financial planner interviewed by CNN
says, this shouldn't be the only way people get paid.
And for most American workers, it's not even worthwhile.
For one thing, like you saw with Bitcoin,
their value can be extremely volatile.
Up one day, down the next.
For another, they're taxed in different ways.
And there aren't as many protections for you
if you get hacked, scammed out of your money,
or locked out of your account.
That's a major difference between cryptocurrencies and US
dollars, which can be insured by the Federal government
if the local bank you have money in goes out of business.
The fact that crypto isn't rooted in a traditional bank
and isn't controlled by traditional government
regulations is exactly what appeals to its supporters.
What's not known yet is whether cryptocurrencies will achieve
the level of stability or acceptance
they'll need to become a reliable replacement
for money as we know it.
JON SARLIN: Cryptocurrencies, more than a decade in,
are worth trillions of dollars, more than the GDP of Italy.
And to many, crypto is the future of money.
But unlike the now of money, the money
that's in your pocket, good luck trying to find a place
to buy a cup of coffee with it.
Depending on who you ask, cryptocurrency
is the biggest transformation of money since the invention
of paper or the biggest scams.
It's Charles Ponzi had a postal stamp he wanted to sell you.
So let's talk about how it works.
We know there are many different kinds of crypto.
There's Bitcoin, the most famous and the most valuable
of all cryptos.
Then you have all coins, like Dogecoin.
There are thousands of these smaller cryptos,
whose value fluctuates wildly as new ones
are being minted every day.
And then there's Ethereum, which is enabled the rise of NFTs,
digital art, and collectibles that
are traded on the blockchain.
So you might not be able to buy a cup of coffee with crypto,
but you can buy an NFT of one.
And what binds the majority of all of them together
is the blockchain, this decentralized network
of computers that verifies transactions.
But another thing that binds cryptocurrencies right now
is that they aren't actually that useful.
Transaction times are slow.
For Bitcoin, it could take up to 20
minutes for a single transaction to go through.
On top of that, they'll be paying expensive fees.
So if cryptocurrencies aren't actually
that useful as a currency, then why are they so valuable?
MELTEM DEMIRORS: Cryptocurrencies are backed
by nothing, but the underlying technology
and people's belief in it.
JON SARLIN: Belief in it.
Many people believe cryptocurrency
is going to get them rich.
Others believe in what you can call a techno-libertarianism,
putting their faith in these decentralized networks over a
central bank or a corporation.
TAVONIA EVANS: Cryptocurrency is designed
to empower the individual with the idea that they are the bank
and they are the governance of this cryptocurrency.
These cryptocurrencies are supposed
to be governed by the people and to belong to the people.
JON SARLIN: But critics say, all this talk
about expanding access to sending money is just that--
talk.
Since we already have all of these efficient ways
to buy a cup of coffee, why add another?
There
NOURIEL ROUBINI: Are no practical uses
of cryptocurrencies.
99% of transactions are just using
one crypto to buy another one.
Don't buy goods, not buy services,
it's just a self-fulfilling referential bubble with no link
to anything in the real world.
JON SARLIN: Another concern, the networks
powering cryptocurrencies are using energy, a lot of it.
Take that coffee NFT from before.
One NFT on average uses as much energy
as driving around 500 miles in the car.
And yet billions of dollars of investments
are still pouring in.
Governments themselves are looking
to launch their own digital currencies to compete
with crypto, while at the same time
writing legislation to regulate them.
So now, with highly cryptocurrencies
entering the mainstream, there are still
more questions than answers.
Is it the future of money?
Or is it just a bubble?
Is it beholden to the hands of government?
Or could it be shackled by regulators?
And will we ever be paying for that cup of coffee in Doge?
CARL AZUZ: 10 second trivia.
The modern Christmas tree tradition
likely originated in what country, England,
France, Germany or Rome?
Historians say, the Christmas tree as we know it originated
in 16th century Germany.
This has become a season of warnings
that people should shop early.
We've told you how slowdowns in the supply chain
could mean lower stocks of Christmas and holiday gifts.
We've reported on a possible run on turkeys
as Thanksgiving approaches.
Meaning, people who wait too long
might not be able to find the right size
bird for their families.
Today, a new warning about Christmas trees, they
may be in short supply as the holiday approaches.
Supply chain problems could mean lower availability and higher
prices for artificial trees.
And when it comes to natural ones,
some farmers are saying they're ready for the holidays.
While others are saying, wholesale trees,
which they may bring in from different farms,
are harder to find this year.
It's very challenging for Christmas tree growers
to plan ahead.
- Christmas trees are never far from Joncie Underwood's mind.
- Surprising how many people do think that you put them
in the ground in the spring, and you're
going to harvest them at, you know, November, December.
It doesn't work that way.
- At her family farm, Pine Valley Christmas Trees,
in the Northeast corner of Maryland,
the journey from planting seedlings in these fields
to a family's living room is a long one.
- Once you plant them out, depending on the type of tree,
it may take 6 to 10 years before you have a sellable tree.
- From too much water to too little to pests,
a lot can happen.
It also means farmers like Underwood
can't simply ramp up supply when demand spikes.
- Because it takes 7 to 10 years for your crop to mature,
you don't have much choice about how many trees you can offer.
- More Americans stay at home for the holidays
in 2020 because of the pandemic, so Christmas trees
weren't high demand.
And some Sellers found themselves
short a consequence of the Great Recession
more than a decade ago that put a lot
of farmers out of business.
- We were actually sold out on about the 3rd of December.
We had another load of trees come in.
And it was gone in a day and a half.
- In Southern California, Carl Holloway
says, he plans about 3,000 trees per year
on the farm his father started in 1958.
- We grow a Monterey pine which is a beautiful tree,
but a lot of people would rather have what
they grew up with his children.
- His crops fighting challenges like California droughts.
He brings in about half the trees
he sells each year, mostly balsam and grand firs
from the Pacific Northwest, where
tree crops have also been hit hard by fires and extreme heat.
Oregon, for example, one of the country's top Christmas tree
producers, farmers only cut and sold
3.44 million trees in 2020, down 27% from 2015,
according to the USDA.
- Because of that and because of labor
shortages and other things, the price of the trees
has gone up at least 100% in the last 10 years.
- All affecting Holloway's bottom line.
But for both farmers, a hectic holiday season
is family tradition.
- I love when our customers come in
and they say, you know, my child was a baby when
I first started coming here.
And now, they're bringing their children
or their grandchildren.
- Those deep roots may be a reason to appreciate a tree
a little bit more this year.
In Elkton, Maryland, I'm Karen Kaifa.
CARL AZUZ: While we're on the subject of Christmas trees,
specifically ones from Maryland, this here tree
has been chosen to become part of a famous tradition
at New York City's Rockefeller Center.
It's a big and almost 80 feet tall, 12 tons in weight.
The 85-year-old Norway spruce was donated
by a family in Maryland.
The first time a tree from that state
will stand at Rockefeller Center.
And it'll be covered with 50,000 colored lights.
Well see, and that's enough to "rock a feller."
It'll certainly balsam over, spruce things up,
endure freezer temperatures, illuminate
spirits that need a little more light at this time.
As they say, "trees" the season.
I'm Carl Azuz.
And from the East Coast, we are flying over to Honolulu,
Hawaii for today's shout out.
It's a treat to see our viewers at Radford High School.