512: Alternate Currency

Explain xkcd: It's 'cause you're dumb.
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Alternate Currency
For the first time ever, the phrase 'I'd like to thank everyone at 4chan for making me successful and happy' is uttered.
Title text: For the first time ever, the phrase 'I'd like to thank everyone at 4chan for making me successful and happy' is uttered.

Explanation

Cueball is shown watching television, where it is announced that the US dollar has collapsed and been replaced by an 'alternative currency' of humorous pictures commonly shared on the internet. Such a currency would be utterly useless; for untraceable and easily-counterfeited .gif and .jpeg files to become more monetarily stable than the US dollar would mean that the economy is all kinds of screwed, to the point of utter absurdity.

The title text pokes fun at users of 4Chan who are notoriously known for their habit of hoarding image macros, a practice he suggests is almost useless except in the instance jokingly suggested by the comic. Randall also pokes fun at himself in saying "I have been preparing for this moment my whole life", indirectly implying he is also guilty of this practice.

Transcript

Television: With the collapse of the dollar, the government has endorsed an alternative currency. Your monetary worth is now determined by the number of funny pictures saved to your hard drive.
I have been preparing for this moment my whole life.


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Discussion

I predict that Bitcoin will be succeeded by this 108.162.241.114 01:24, 14 February 2014 (UTC)

This could be an even deeper jab at Bitcoin. The principle of Bitcoin is that information equals value. (Oversimplified, I know)

Now, I think Cueball says that even funnies and image macros are more valuable currency because each one has an inherent value - most are mildly entertaining. That's not a whole lot of inherent value, but at least, it's a nonzero amount. 141.101.104.70 10:56, 4 December 2014 (UTC)

Hey! Apparently people have been selling their collections on eBay. The future has arrived!--173.245.56.157 06:18, 26 August 2015 (UTC)

Wouldn't the pictures just be spam ctrl-c, ctrl-ved? -- Dontknow (talk) (please sign your comments with ~~~~)

Yes, that process is generally known as "inflation". --Lupo (talk) 12:21, 24 September 2019 (UTC)

Randal predicted NFTs? --108.162.210.232 00:28, 13 May 2021 (UTC)