When Bitcoin Got Its First Real TV Explanation
Long before Bitcoin became a household name, Max Keiser and his wife Stacy Herbert were already talking about it on television. This was back when explaining cryptocurrency on TV meant you were either incredibly prescient or slightly eccentric. Probably both.
The couple co-hosted the Keiser Report on Russia's RT Network, a financial show known for its casual, outspoken style and the chemistry between the husband-wife team. On December 22, 2010, they dedicated part of an episode to discussing the financial blockade facing WikiLeaks and the larger question of who controls access to money.
Herbert introduced viewers to Bitcoin during that segment. "So one solution is Bitcoin, and this differs because there's no central bank or other kind of controlling interest. It's entirely decentralized," she explained.
She walked through Bitcoin's peer-to-peer transaction system, its resistance to single points of failure, and its immunity to censorship. Keiser would later describe this as the first time Bitcoin had been properly "explained" on international television.
The Math Is Almost Incomprehensible
Here's where things get wild. When that episode aired, Bitcoin (BTC) was trading at exactly 26 cents. Today, it's hovering around $88,617.
If you happened to watch that Keiser Report episode and thought "you know what, I'll throw a few bucks at this weird internet money," you'd be up 33,016,800% right now. That's not a typo. That's thirty-three million percent.
| Cryptocurrency | Price (December 22, 2010) | Price (8:35 p.m. ET) | Gains +/- |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bitcoin | $0.2684 | $88,617.41 | +33,016,800% |
Let that sink in for a moment. A $100 investment that day would be worth over $33 million today.
Keiser Never Wavered
The remarkable thing about Keiser is that he didn't just mention Bitcoin once and move on. In 2011, when Bitcoin was worth around $1, he boldly predicted it would eventually reach $100,000. At the time, that sounded absurd. History had other plans.
These days, Keiser serves as the senior Bitcoin advisor to the government of El Salvador, and his social media presence is basically a 24/7 Bitcoin promotion machine. He's remained supremely bullish throughout every cycle, crash, and comeback.
It's worth noting that Bitcoin ended 2025 on a lower note after rallying to an all-time high of $126,198.07 earlier in the year. But for anyone who caught that 2010 broadcast and actually acted on it, the long-term trajectory has been nothing short of extraordinary.