‘Shameless’ season premiere name drops Bitcoin and other crypto

Published at: Dec. 7, 2020

A number of TV shows have mentioned Bitcoin (BTC) or other cryptocurrencies over the years, including Big Bang Theory in 2017 and The Simpsons in 2020. One of the latest crypto mentions occurred during the premiere of the 11th season of Shameless, in an episode called “This is Chicago.” 

“It’s my crypto,” character Dash says, elaborating, “My Bitcoin. It’s down 30 and I was using it to leverage my Tether and my Ethereum.” Another character responded: “I have no idea what you just said.”

Dash continued:

“Oil futures gutted my portfolio last spring. So if there’s another two-point drop on my cryptos, I’ll have to cover a margin call.”

Dash’s comments are unlikely to make much sense to real-world participants in the blockchain space, as the dialogue seemed to be little more than a low-fidelity combination of buzzwords and technobabble. One might use Tether in a leveraged Bitcoin trade, for instance, but the other way around appears illogical. It is additionally unclear what exactly being “down 30” means for Bitcoin. If he is simply referring to dollars, then he might want to buckle up, as a $30 swing for Bitcoin is miniscule price action.

Oil prices did indeed suffer a tough spring this year, however, so at least his oil comment lines up adequately. Covering a margin call means Dash must deposit more collateral to maintain his current trading positions if prices drop past a certain point.

On Monday, the Twitter account belonging to asset wallet platform MyCrypto flagged the quotes from the episode, saying: “Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Tether got a mention in this evening’s season premiere of Shameless!”

Even though the dialogue made little sense, the episode's crypto inclusion still marked the mainstream's growing awareness for digital currencies. Bitcoin and others have seen significant adoption in 2020, including PayPal’s recent launch of digital assets on its platform.

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