Gold advocate and crypto-skeptic Peter Schiff proved more persuasive to viewers of Intelligence Squared’s organized debates on the merits of bitcoin versus the precious metal as a store of value.
Here is the Intelligence Squared #Bitcoin vs. #Gold debate I did with @Scaramucci. Since you Bitcoin pumpers forgot to rig the vote this time I was actually able to win this one. Check it out and judge for yourself. https://t.co/Q2UuZmevAx
— Peter Schiff (@PeterSchiff) August 26, 2021
His opponent was Anthony Scaramucci, founder of SkyBridge Capital.
Before the debate began, 38% of the online audience favored gold, and 26% favored bitcoin. After it, support for gold rose to 51%, and for the cryptocurrency to 31%.
Scaramucci began by arguing that bitcoin’s value is driven by the blockchain, which enables peer-to-peer transactions without intermediaries. In his view, the advantages of the leading cryptocurrency are underpinned by its limited supply and digital character.
“I think that bitcoin, in particular, because of its scarcity, will surpass gold. It is more portable, transactionally secure due to the blockchain, and its adoption is expanding rapidly,” the investor said.
He added that as a result, the price of the cryptocurrency would rise significantly.
In response, Schiff said that comparing the two assets is meaningless, since bitcoin does not possess the qualities that give gold its value.
“Part of the marketing fraud consists in trying to portray bitcoin as gold, gold 2.0, a digital variant. I mean, the cryptocurrency is always depicted as a gold-colored coin with the letter “B”. But it is not a coin, but simply a digital sequence of numbers that has no essence”, — said the president of Euro Pacific Capital.
Schiff noted that there is a difference between price and value. For gold, the latter is determined by its real-world uses, he believes.
“In 100 or 1,000 years the gold I store now could be melted down and used in electronics, in jewelry, or for any new uses that do not yet exist today,” he stressed.
He compared bitcoin to a financial pyramid or tulip mania, adding that he is not bothered by the rising price of the asset.
“In my view, this is a gigantic pump-and-dump scheme, where people who got in relatively early are constantly trying to pump the market, generating more enthusiasm and FOMO, so that they can gradually unload on this market, which they themselves create,” he said.
Schiff said he would change his view on cryptocurrency only if it were backed by gold and primarily used as money, not for trading.
Earlier, Schiff called it a serious mistake not to have bought bitcoin when he first learned about it in 2011.
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