美国国家公共电台 NPR--How much influence does the cryptoverse have on the wider economy?

How much influence does the cryptoverse have on the wider economy?

Transcript¹

Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies have taken a beating lately. Even though these assets are risky², they're becoming more mainstream³. So what does this crypto collapse⁴ mean for the wider economy?

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

Cryptocurrencies have had a rough time of it lately. Bitcoin, for example, has lost more than half its value this year. Paddy Hirsch and Wailin Wong from our daily economics podcast, The Indicator⁵, have this next story. They wondered, as these crypto assets become more mainstream, what is the risk to the wider economy?

WAILIN WONG, BYLINE⁶: An annual survey by the Federal Reserve found that 12% of American adults used or held cryptocurrency purely⁷ for investment in the last year. Now, they probably didn't lose all their money, but that still is 31 million people. Surely that's going to affect the economy in some way?

PADDY HIRSCH, BYLINE: Well, you'd think so. But Jamie Cox says probably not. He's managing partner of Harris Financial Group in Richmond, Va.

JAMIE COX: This is not going to have the same deleterious effect that we saw with the housing market, you know, rippling⁸ into banks and creating insolvencies and then leading to a global financial crisis that could have led easily into a global depression. That's not where we are.

WONG: Jamie's not making light of the losses, but he says the wider economy is pretty insulated from them. First of all, the amounts of money we're talking about are comparatively small. The market capitalization of the entire crypto market is less than $1 trillion.

HIRSCH: Yeah. A trillion dollars may sound like a lot, but it's actually less than half of the market capitalization of Apple or Amazon. So the danger of an individual fund's losses on crypto rippling through the market are pretty low, Jamie says.

WONG: Perhaps more importantly, neither individuals nor corporations are using crypto assets as collateral⁹ for loans.

HIRSCH: This is a big deal - right? - because when people or companies borrow money, they have to provide collateral, some security that's some kind of asset that the lender can take and sell if the borrower defaults. Like, if you borrow money to buy a house, then the house is the collateral. And if you fail to make your mortgage payments, then the bank can take your home.

WONG: Companies use all kinds of stuff as collateral for the loans they borrow. But for the most part, no one right now is using crypto assets. They're too risky, too volatile¹⁰, too uncertain. And that means that the corporate¹¹ loan economy, all $22 trillion of it, is not affected¹² by what's going on in crypto land.

HIRSCH: And lenders' refusal to accept crypto assets as collateral for loans is like this huge firewall between the cryptoverse (ph) and the wider U.S. economy. Now, that's not to say that crypto doesn't leak through here and there. Jamie says the stock market's a bit of a weak link because publicly traded corporations are increasingly beginning to dabble¹³ in crypto.

WONG: While the U.S. economy is pretty insulated from the ups and downs of the cryptoverse for now, things are moving fast. Crypto assets are becoming increasingly mainstream.

HIRSCH: And that means more and more Americans are going to become exposed to that world, either directly through their own investments or indirectly¹⁴ by owning stock in companies that have put money into crypto. And Jamie says that's something that the government is very aware of.

COX: I think that regulation was already being teed up, but it is definitely going to come in in a major way.

WONG: A lot of people believe that the blockchain and cryptocurrency are the future of finance. Even governments are getting on board the crypto train. But that does it mean that going forward the crypto market is going to be any less volatile or risky than it is today.

HIRSCH: Yeah. It could actually mean greater risk to the economy as these companies get bigger and more people invest in them. So yes, we can afford to wave off - if not ignore - this latest crypto meltdown. But we probably won't have that luxury for very much longer. Paddy Hirsch.

WONG: Wailin Wong, NPR News.

(SOUNDBITE OF LANE 8'S "JUST")

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 risky   

adj.有风险的，冒险的

参考例句：

• It may be risky but we will chance it anyhow.这可能有危险，但我们无论如何要冒一冒险。
• He is well aware how risky this investment is.他心里对这项投资的风险十分清楚。

3 mainstream   

n.（思想或行为的）主流；adj.主流的

参考例句：

• Their views lie outside the mainstream of current medical opinion.他们的观点不属于当今医学界观点的主流。
• Polls are still largely reflects the mainstream sentiment.民调还在很大程度上反映了社会主流情绪。

4 collapse   

vi.累倒；昏倒；倒塌；塌陷

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做了一次彻底的调查分析。

5 indicator   

n.指标；指示物，指示者；指示器

参考例句：

• Gold prices are often seen as an indicator of inflation.黃金价格常常被看作是通货膨胀的指标。
• His left-hand indicator is flashing.他左手边的转向灯正在闪亮。

6 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

7 purely   

adv.纯粹地，完全地

参考例句：

• I helped him purely and simply out of friendship.我帮他纯粹是出于友情。
• This disproves the theory that children are purely imitative.这证明认为儿童只会单纯地模仿的理论是站不住脚的。

8 rippling   

起涟漪的，潺潺流水般声音的

参考例句：

• I could see the dawn breeze rippling the shining water. 我能看见黎明的微风在波光粼粼的水面上吹出道道涟漪。
• The pool rippling was caused by the waving of the reeds. 池塘里的潺潺声是芦苇摇动时引起的。

9 collateral   

adj.平行的；旁系的；n.担保品

参考例句：

• Many people use personal assets as collateral for small business loans.很多人把个人财产用作小额商业贷款的抵押品。
• Most people here cannot borrow from banks because they lack collateral.由于拿不出东西作为抵押，这里大部分人无法从银行贷款。

10 volatile   

adj.反复无常的，挥发性的，稍纵即逝的，脾气火爆的；n.挥发性物质

参考例句：

• With the markets being so volatile,investments are at great risk.由于市场那么变化不定，投资冒着很大的风险。
• His character was weak and volatile.他这个人意志薄弱，喜怒无常。

11 corporate   

adj.共同的，全体的；公司的，企业的

参考例句：

• This is our corporate responsibility.这是我们共同的责任。
• His corporate's life will be as short as a rabbit's tail.他的公司的寿命是兔子尾巴长不了。

12 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

13 dabble   

v.涉足，浅赏

参考例句：

• They dabble in the stock market.他们少量投资于股市。
• Never dabble with things of which you have no knowledge.绝不要插手你不了解的事物。

14 indirectly   

adv.间接地，不直接了当地

参考例句：

• I heard the news indirectly.这消息我是间接听来的。
• They were approached indirectly through an intermediary.通过一位中间人，他们进行了间接接触。