Peter Schiff tells Michael Saylor to take out a $4.3 million loan to buy Bitcoin from the US government

Renowned economist and Bitcoin skeptic Peter Schiff took to X on October 9 to weigh in on the US government’s impending sale of 69,370 Bitcoins, worth approximately $4.3 billion.

Its publication prompted lively responses from both supporters and critics of Bitcoin, igniting debates about the value of the virtual asset.

Silk Road Bitcoin within reach

Schiff’s tweet follows a Supreme Court ruling that cleared the way for the U.S. government to sell Bitcoin it seized on the defunct Silk Road marketplace. As a result, the government has announced its intention to liquidate the coins, which had been tied up in court proceedings.

The Echelon Wealth co-founder, known for his preference for gold, appeared to sarcastically suggest that MicroStrategy CEO Michael Saylor should borrow $4.3 billion to buy Bitcoin.

“Every once in a while the government does something smart,” he joked, in what sounded like a sly dig at Saylor’s Bitcoin-heavy investment strategy.

Since 2020, Saylor has led MicroStrategy to acquire billions in Bitcoin, a move Schiff has previously criticized as a risky bet. On September 20, the company raised over $1 billion and used some of the proceeds to buy 7,420 BTC. This purchase brought MicroStrategy’s total to 252,220 coins, currently valued at around $16 billion.

The radio personality’s latest comment drew responses from both sides of the Bitcoin debate, with proponents of the cryptocurrency quick to challenge his comments.

One user, Henry Scavacini, highlighted the six basic properties of Bitcoin: durability, portability, divisibility, fungibility, scarcity and acceptability. They also pointed to a seventh: immutability, which is unique to blockchain-based assets. This sparked further debate, with others joining in to defend Bitcoin’s position as “hard money”.

Schiff Adamant over Gold

However, even as the wagon turned, Schiff remained firm in his position, stating, “It’s missing the most important thing (the property). Real real value.”

His denial of Bitcoin’s value prompted further pushback, with users like Tommy Carver reminding him that market consensus currently values ​​Bitcoin at more than $62,000. Another user added that value is subjective and determined by the usefulness of an asset to those who own it.

This online exchange between the veteran stockbroker and Bitcoin supporters highlights the long-standing ideological divide between traditional gold bugs and Bitcoin maximalists.

Schiff has repeatedly criticized Bitcoin, arguing that it lacks the tangible value of gold. He recently said that an obsession with Bitcoin was causing investors to miss out on gold’s record performance.

He further claimed that the cryptocurrency helped cover policy mistakes made by the US Federal Reserve, mistakes that would have come to light if more attention had been paid to the performance of the gold market.

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