TL;DR: Legendary investigative journalist John Stossel recently told cryptocurrency critic and precious metals investor Peter Schiff his “Bitcoin investment has done a lot better than my gold investment.” Stossel is a well-known American television personality who was one of the first to bring overtly libertarian topics to a mainstream audience. At 72 years old, he’s not slowing down.

John Stossel’s Bitcoin Investment Beat Gold

When John Stossel began his television journalism career back in 1969, the first Led Zeppelin album was released while the Beatles gave their last public performance. Broadway Joe was Super Bowl III’s MVP. Nixon started his term as the 37th President. Boeing’s 747 took its inaugural flight. Neil Armstrong became the first human to step onto the surface of the Moon (IF YOU BELIEVE GOVERNMENT LIES!).

He’s been doing this for a while. Perhaps his most original contribution to the investigative television tabloid genre is bringing radical libertarian ideas to a mainstream American audience. His work and grit, even in hostile work environments at CBS and ABC, filled with ever-crusading progressives in love with government programs, earned him more than a dozen Emmys and five National Press Club awards.

His latest gig involves vignettes for the longtime libertarian outfit, Reason. He produces video shorts and interviews of subjects that catch his fancy. The latest episode is a quick take on Bitcoin. Through the filter of Facebook Coin Libra’s provoking hostile reactions from politicians around the world, Stossel sought comment from two top libertarian movement thought leaders, Naomi Brockwell and Peter Schiff. It is not the first time John Stossel has examined cryptocurrency. He’s been touching on the subject to varying degrees for years, and is a big believer in its potential.

Backed by Nothing

Brockwell is an ecosystem veteran, hobnobbing with nearly everyone who is anyone in cryptocurrency. She’s a frequent Mistress of Ceremonies at conferences all over the world, and has worked with Stossel for years as a producer. She believes governments are indeed scared of cryptocurrency because they exist without their express permission. They are, as she calls it, the money of free people.

Schiff, of course, is well known in libertarian circles and a fervent critic of cryptocurrencies. As the head of investment arms such as Euro Pacific Capital and SchiffGold, his focus is on sound money properties found in metals like gold. He was brought on to the Reason segment to provide balance, a hallmark of Stossel’s reporting. Schiff again claims crypto is backed by nothing, whereas gold has intrinsic value in its real-world utility along with being hard money.

To that, Stossel acknowledges having himself invested in gold, but lamented gold’s necessity for custody solutions and physical handling. When Schiff insisted no one was using crypto, Stossel snapped back that he used it for online purchases. Schiff’s go-to is how cryptos are not backed by anything, such as gold, and at that Stossel also balked, explaining its payment network, blockchain, was both the utility and backing.

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DISCLOSURE: The author holds cryptocurrency as part of his financial portfolio, including BCH.