Puerto Rico update / The rise of Bitcoin

Air Date: December 18, 2017

FILE - In this April 3, 2013 file photo, Mike Caldwell, a 35-year-old software engineer, holds a 25 Bitcoin token at his shop in Sandy, Utah. As Venezuela’s national currency loses value at a catastrophic rate, thousands have begun turning to the world of cryptocurrency to salvage what little value remains from their increasingly worthless bolivars. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer, File)

Guests: Dánica Coto, John Collins, Joshua Ashley Klayman, Angela Walch

Puerto Rico is still struggling to return power to residents three months after the category 4 Hurricane Maria hit. The lack of power has forced many people to leave the island for the U.S. mainland–130,000 so far. While the official death toll from the storm is 62 people, researchers believe the actual number is far higher. We start out this hour, checking in on Puerto Rico’s recovery with Associated Press reporter DÀNICA COTO. Then, the price of the Bitcoin has been skyrocketing lately, with people around the world clamoring to invest in the mysterious digital currency . In fact, the cryptocurrency app Coinbase was downloaded twice as much as Instagram last week. JOHN COLLINS, former head of policy at Coinbase joins us this hour, along with JOSHUA ASHLEY KLAYMAN of the Wall Street Blockchain Alliance Legal Working Group and ANGELA WALCH, law professor at St. Mary’s University, to talk about the rise of Bitcoin.

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