In the Thursday episode of Today in Ohio, cleveland.com’s news podcast, hosts Chris Quinn, Laura Johnston, and Lisa Garvin delivered a blistering critique of JD Vance’s newfound enthusiasm for cryptocurrency, questioning whether his support stems from genuine belief or political calculation.
The discussion centered on Vance’s Wednesday speech praising cryptocurrency as “a genuine ground up innovation that’s already improving the well being of tens of millions of our fellow citizens” – a claim that prompted immediate skepticism from the podcast team.
“I want to know how exactly this is improving the well being of tens of millions of people,” said Laura Johnston, highlighting Trump’s own cryptocurrency ventures as potential conflicts of interest. “This Trump… dollar sign Trump meme coin that Trump launched and the social media company he owns announced plans to raise $2.5 billion so he can purchase bitcoin. This seems like a total conflict of interest.”
Chris Quinn criticized the cryptocurrency industry’s huge spending on Ohio politics. “The cryptocurrency industry basically bought that Senate seat for Bernie Moreno. They poured millions and millions into Ohio… they have become the muscle. They’ve just decided they’re going to drum anybody out that doesn’t agree with them.”
The podcast delved into the fundamental issues with cryptocurrency, with Quinn pointing out: “The problem with cryptocurrency is there’s so much fraud in it. How many times have we read about the coins just disappearing?” He highlighted recent criminal trends, including kidnappings of cryptocurrency owners for their passwords, and questioned the entire foundation of digital currencies: “There’s no tangible basis for this money. There’s nothing at the heart of it. There’s not a nation’s full faith and credit. It’s just fictional cash.”
Lisa Garvin called it “the biggest grift of the 21st century.”
Johnston emphasized the lack of institutional backing for cryptocurrencies, noting they’re “not backed by government… not backed by banks or other institutions” and are tracked through “this decentralized computer network based on blockchain.”
She questioned why government officials would endorse such a volatile system: “Why our government is saying this is a good thing rather than saying, okay, this is an industry that we need to regulate is just one more question to put up there for Trump.”
The podcast conversation reveals a striking disconnect between the enthusiastic embrace of cryptocurrency by politicians like Vance and the serious concerns about its security, stability, and legitimacy raised by the hosts.
Note: Artificial intelligence was used to help generate this story from Today in Ohio, a news podcast discussion by cleveland.com editors. Visitors to cleveland.com have asked for more text stories based on website podcast discussions.
Listen to full “Today in Ohio” episodes where Chris Quinn hosts our daily half-hour news podcast, with Editorial Board member Lisa Garvin, Impact Editor Leila Atassi and Content Director Laura Johnston.