OpinionMarketsBitcoin
|3 min ReadPeter Schiff Pressures Bitcoin Holders as Sentiment Weakens
Carter Hayes
Senior Analyst
Published
Jan 16, 2026
Peter Schiff is turning up the heat again. The economist and longtime gold advocate renewed his criticism of bitcoin this week, telling investors directly to dump their BTC and move into gold. His comments spread quickly across X, fueling the latest round of the bitcoin versus gold debate just as market sentiment tests important levels.
He argued that bitcoin’s past rebounds are blinding many investors to what he believes is a darker path ahead. On Nov. 14, Schiff wrote that bitcoin’s recovery history “will keep a lot of HODLers from jumping ship for years to come,” before adding a sharper warning that this time the market might not bounce back at all. If BTC keeps sliding, he said, people will miss profit opportunities in other assets.
Schiff Pushes Gold as Bitcoin Poll Sparks Debate
Schiff repeated his message across multiple replies on X. “You are much better off selling bitcoin to buy gold,” he told one commenter. To underline his point, he shared the results of a Nov. 13 poll he posted asking how low bitcoin must fall before people admit he was right. The poll collected 40,115 votes. Eighteen percent chose 25,000, 13.1 percent selected 0.
Bitcoin supporters quickly pushed back. They argued that Schiff’s gold-first worldview ignores what gives bitcoin its strength: verifiable scarcity, a censorship-resistant network, and a decentralized design that turns it into a non-sovereign store of value for the digital era. They view volatility as part of price discovery, not a fatal flaw, and believe long-term returns will outpace traditional assets like gold.
Why Bitcoiners Dismiss Schiff’s Warning
The core disagreement sits in how each side defines value. Schiff sees gold as a stable, tangible asset with centuries of history. Bitcoin advocates counter that BTC is not meant to function like a commodity. Its power comes from a global network that operates without central control, making it more resistant to seizure and political risk.
They argue that adoption, mining security, and network utility matter more than physical use cases. In their view, bitcoin’s design creates a form of digital scarcity that gold cannot match, and its long-term trajectory will reflect that.
Investor Choices Under Macro Pressure
Behind the argument is a broader question. When inflation shifts, interest rates move, or liquidity tightens, investors reassess what protects wealth. For some, gold provides psychological stability. For others, bitcoin offers asymmetric upside. The debate influences how portfolios are balanced as people weigh digital versus physical stores of value in uncertain times.
Disclaimer: This document is intended for informational and entertainment purposes only. The views expressed in this document are not, and should not be taken as, investment advice or recommendations. Recipients should do their own due diligence, taking into account their specific financial circumstances, investment objectives and risk tolerance, which are not considered here, before investing. This document is not an offer, or the solicitation of an offer, to buy or sell any of the assets mentioned.