Peter Schiff’s Bitcoin Obsession and Shilling For The End Times
No matter what it is, there will always be someone ready to say they are certain any given investment is the best most exciting thing right now and a sure way for everyone to become rich. They never mention the value of a diverse portfolio but instead, focus on a single asset they claim is the gateway to a Ferrari. Crypto is obviously full of these evangelists proselytizing for the economic revolution and on the other side there are the skeptics antagonizing the crypto faithful and arguing that they know the best path to riches. Peter Schiff is one of these.
Schiff is an American stock broker, financial commentator, and radio personality known for his strong and often controversial views on economics and investing but he’s really a full-time contrarian and gold pumper. He honored Bitcoins halving with a sarcastic tweet congratulating “Bitcoiners” on the event and then, getting super cheeky, he said, “#HODLers will experience a halving of their net worths”. He does this kind of thing often and the result is always the same: coinheads flood his mentions pointing out how uninformed and disingenuous his take is and he responds with selective data that can only be looked at in a very specific way that proves he’s on to something.
Why does he care about Bitcoin so much? It’s not something he wants. He’s interested in different kinds of investing and speculating in a different market and yet, he talks about it constantly, he tweets about it constantly, he writes about it, he is always bringing it up. He is obsessed with Bitcoin.
Two days ago on his website “schiffgold.com” he held the “The Great Bitcoin Debate” where he, “makes a compelling case for gold as the superior safe haven over Bitcoin in the latest heated debate.” The debate is supposed to help people, “Discover why gold’s timeless value will outshine digital currencies”. Seriously, the guy is obsessed. He’s all in on gold but talks about Bitcoin way more than he does gold.
He may not want Bitcoin but he definitely wants what it provides: attention. Schiff is a shill but what he’s pumping is not very sexy so he goes to where the action is and tries to stir it up so he can tell everyone gold is actually better than Bitcoin. But that’s not all.
Peter Schiff: Perma Bear
Bitcoin threatens Schiff and his golden promotional tactic: the perma bear. In his view, the economy is always about to collapse – be afraid. Good news is not good news. It’s a lie. The only good news is that there is a way to survive. You can buy the thing that will make me rich. Buy gold and you’ll be safe – In this sense, his rhetoric and outlook is closely aligned with Bitcoin culture that preaches economic demise and a way through it to safety. This is where his true obsession with Bitcoin lies: in the economic end times there can be only one savior. For him, there is no room for crypto and gold. Investors need to pick a side and have faith they will be raptured and meet the heavenly dollar.