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Sometimes, life gets so weird that it's beyond parody.
Take, for instance, the announcement that Dennis Rodman will not only be making a return trip to North Korea, but he's doing so with the backing of PotCoin, a cryptocurrency used for the legalized cannabis industry.
In a video posted YouTube, Rodman appears alongside an unnamed representative of PotCoin, who points out that, oh hey!, Rodman is friends with both Donald Trump and Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un (which is kind of like saying you have the plague and black lung).
Okay, but, to pose a question we're asking a a lot in 2017: what the hell is going on?!
What the hell is PotCoin?
It's like BitCoin for weed. That's it, really.
We all know what BitCoin is: a cryptocurrency that's been resurgent in recent headlines for its skyrocketing value.
PotCoin is a cryptocurrency you can use online to legally buy cannabis, one of a few that launched before the legal marijuana industry really got going in the United States. And, yes, there's a PotWallet for keeping your PotCoin all together.
There are security advantages to using the cryptocurrency, offering a safe alternative to cash and also allows for anonymity. When PotCoin launched in 2014, it seemed that it may help legal cannabis businesses that couldn't get banks to work with them.
A few years later and there hasn't been much growth for the cryptocurrency. That's probably why it's sponsoring this sideshow-like Rodman trip to North Korea — it's a good chance to simply get PotCoin's name out there. (Exhibit A: this story!)
While marijuana, either medical or recreational, is legal in 26 states and Washington, D.C., getting both buyers and sellers to adopt cryptocurrency is an uphill challenge.
There are only a handful of locations across the globe currently accepting PotCoin as a means of currency (and North Korea isn't one of them).
As of Thursday morning, one PotCoin is worth only $0.179644
Weed and North Korea? Really?
For years, there have been tales of North Korea being a marijuana utopia with "marijuana plants growing freely along the roadsides" and allegedly, bags of pot available for purchase in markets.
But an Associated Press story from January 2017 did a bit of debunking on that one, pointing out that a lot of what was being sold was just hemp — no THC — and assured us that, yes, marijuana is illegal and that you can land in jail for a very long time if charged and do you really want to risk it?
Point is, we don't really know if PotCoin has any real interest in North Korea. Mashable has reached out to the company for comment on the association with Rodman.
But a previous Rodman-to-North Korea trip was backed by Irish betting company Paddy Power who eventually backed out because having any association with a brutal regime is apparently bad branding.
So why is Rodman going back?
We don't really know.
It's Rodman's fifth trip to North Korea and he insists it's all about the roundball, telling reporters, "My purpose is to actually see if I can keep bringing sports to North Korea, so that's the main thing."
Beyond that, everyone's pretty mum.
National Security spokesman Michael Anton to CNN that the Trump administration has nothing to do with this trip.
Dennis Rodman not sent on behalf of President Trump or White House, National Security spokesman Michael Anton tells CNN.
— Dianne Gallagher (@DianneG) June 13, 2017
But Trump himself offered differing views on Rodman's previous visits, praising him in 2013 (when he was connected to Celebrity Apprentice, of course) before turning on him in 2014.
Our wild man Dennis Rodman, big in the news re North Korea, will be on and watching Celebrity Apprentice on Sunday night!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 1, 2013
Dennis Rodman was either drunk or on drugs (delusional) when he said I wanted to go to North Korea with him. Glad I fired him on Apprentice!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 8, 2014
Thomas A. Shannon Jr., the U.S.'s under secretary of state for political affairs, told the New York Times, “We are aware of [Rodman's] visit. We wish him well, but we have issued travel warnings to Americans and suggested they not travel to North Korea for their own safety."
And, no, as far as anyone knows, Rodman had nothing to do with Tuesday's release of American Otto Warmbier from North Korea.
UPDATED, 12:58 p.m. ET to include comment from advisor that Trump administration has had no contact with Rodman about this trip.
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