Peter Schiff, a noted proponent of gold and Bitcoin skeptic, came in for ridicule when a post regarding a movement in the price of gold caught the attention of the crypto community. Shiff’s post, which advised gold enthusiasts to “buckle up” after it broke $1,400 an ounce, went viral in the crypto sphere and caused many to offer Schiff to look at the Bitcoin price if he wanted something to get excited about.
Spot gold just broke through $1,400. Buckle up!
— Peter Schiff (@PeterSchiff) June 21, 2019
Schiff Gets Short Shrift from the Bitcoin Brigade
The response among the Twitter community to the tweet was quick and brutal, made even better by the fact that BTC was in the middle of a rip-roaring run to $10,000 at the time:
Lol congrats on the $50 gains! Get that bread ? ?
— CRYPTO BITLORD (@Crypto_Bitlord) June 21, 2019
A 200% suckers rally that’s lasted 6 months so far.. lol.. I guess I love me some suckere rallies !!
— Paddy stash (@paddystash) June 21, 2019
You were telling people to buy gold 6 months ago. Bitcoin was $3,000. It’s $10,000 now. How did gold do?
— Dean Bennett (@deanrbennett81) June 21, 2019
Since Schiff’s advice to “buckle up”, gold has risen by seven dollars (0.49%) following a drop to $1,382 immediately after his post. In that time, BTC has risen by $1,309 (13.5%), illustrating that anyone not wearing a seatbelt in the Bitcoin car was at much more risk than anyone in the gold-mobile.
Schiff Hits Back… and Misses
Commendably, Schiff did interact with some of the respondents to his post, stating that “Bitcoin is a bubble that has already burst”, seemingly oblivious to the fact that it has spent almost the whole of 2019 performing a startling (to those who doubted it) recovery. He also claimed that for Bitcoin holders to realize any profit they had to sell to cash, which elicited the obvious response from many that this was the exact same situation in any market, including gold.
Schiff also frequently protests that those eulogizing the values of Bitcoin are those with a vested interest – i.e. they hold some. This argument is somewhat undermined however when you consider that Schiff owns Schiff Gold LLC, a company which, according to Bloomberg, “operates as a discount precious metals dealer that specializes in investment-grade gold, silver, platinum, and palladium bullion coins.” So no conflict of interest from Schiff’s point of view there, naturally. Stick to your gold, Peter, and your seven dollar gains.
