Crypto Hater Peter Schiff Inadvertently Makes Strong Investment Case For Bitcoin

Gold bug and long-time Bitcoin skeptic Peter Schiff may have unwittingly just acknowledged that the benchmark cryptocurrency has multiple real-world use cases.

In an August 6 tweet, Schiff claimed that investing in the spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) stymies the purpose of purchasing BTC in the first place.

“It’s no longer decentralized, it’s not peer-to-peer, it’s easily seized by authorities, can’t be used as a currency for payments, or transferred across borders,” the prominent American stockbroker stated regarding BTC ETFs. “It’s not your keys, not your coins.”

Schiff was understandably ridiculed by Bitcoin proponents on the X platform, as many of them actually concurred with him.

Senior ETF analyst for Bloomberg, Eric Balchunas, who has been vocal about the success of the Bitcoin ETF products, also couldn’t help but agree.

“It’s a fair point but how is it any different than a gold ETF or a gold mutual fund?” Balchunas quizzed. “Should the motto be, ‘Not sitting in your own safe, not your gold’?”

London-based investment management company Farside Investors pointed out all of Schiff’s facts about the benefits of real BTC, including its decentralized nature and its resistance to censorship.

Schiff later indicated that he was well aware of what ETF investors want, but asserted that their objectives don’t align with the typical Bitcoin holder.

“These buyers only care about price,” the famed finance personality contended. “The goal is cashing out with profits. This shows the pyramid scheme will soon collapse.”

Schiff, who predicted the 2008 mortgage crisis, is a known Bitcoin detractor and often questions its market value and real-world use cases. In April, he called out pundits who predicted the price of Bitcoin could top $100,000, buoyed by the massive demand created by spot BTC ETFs. At the time, the gold proponent cited the bearish performance of some of the major Bitcoin-related equity markets, such as Coinbase, MicroStrategy, Galaxy Digital, questioning why the high demand for BTC is not reflected in the stocks of these BTC-linked stocks.