On Sunday (January 19), famous gold bug and Bitcoin critic Peter Schiff claimed that he had lost access to all of his Bitcoin holdings.
On 4 July 2019, Schiff, who is the CEO of Euro Pacific Capital, a full-service, registered broker/dealer specializing in foreign markets and securities, and founder and Chairman of SchiffGold, a full-service, discount precious metals dealer, and a man who is extremely bullish on gold, bearish on the U.S. dollar, and highly skeptical about Bitcoin, admitted to owning Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH), and Bitcoin Cash (BCH), and said that he was going to HODL his bitcoin no matter what happens to the Bitcoin price.
Earlier today, Schiff took to Twitter to express his anger with Bitcoin after allegedly losing access to the crypto wallet that holds his bitcoin:
I just lost all the #Bitcoin I have ever owned. My wallet got corrupted somehow and my password is no longer valid. So now not only is my Bitcoin intrinsically worthless; it has no market value either. I knew owning Bitcoin was a bad idea, I just never realized it was this bad! pic.twitter.com/6SJvDJOZU6
— Peter Schiff (@PeterSchiff) January 19, 2020
Although Schiff thinks that the wallet he was using has “somehow” gotten “corrupted” and that is why his password — which he is sure of remembering correctly — is being rejected, not everyone in the crypto community is convinced that is right.
One of those who believes that Schiff has simply forgotten his password is Anthony Pompliano (aka “Pomp”), Co-founder and Partner at Morgan Creek Digital:
Translation: You forgot your password?
Same thing happens to your email if you’re irresponsible and forget your password, Peter 🤷🏽♂️
— Pomp 🌪 (@APompliano) January 19, 2020
After Schiff denied forgetting his password, Pomp, offered to help Schiff recover his bitcoin:
The software just executes the commands that humans give it.
It can’t “forget” anything.
Email me and I’ll try to help you recover the lost Bitcoin.
— Pomp 🌪 (@APompliano) January 19, 2020
Interestingly, Schiff then claimed that the unfortunate situation with his wallet has not occurred because he incorrectly set up the wallet, and that it was in fact Eric Voorhees, Founder and CEO of ShapeShift, who set it up:
Eric Voorhees set up the wallet for me and even he thinks there is nothing I can do. But you're welcome to try if you have any ideas.
— Peter Schiff (@PeterSchiff) January 19, 2020
Carlos Acevedo, Director of Sales at Brave, then told Schiff that Bitcoin was not to blame and that if Schiff had used a cold wallet (such as a hardware wallet made by Ledger) or made a note of the recovery phrase, then this situation could have been prevented:
A hierarchy of wallets exists, @PeterSchiff. Had you purchased a cold storage wallet like a @Ledger or backed up your wallet using the recovery phrase, this could not happen. Blame the app, not #bitcoin. Personal responsibility is the basis of cryptocurrency use.
— Carlos Acevedo (@CryptoAcevedo) January 19, 2020
Schiff says that he did not change to a more secure wallet because he wanted all those people who had sent him bitcoin last year to be able to “easily monitor their value”.
Although quite a few people are now blaming Voorhees for not making saving the private keys for the wallet he allegedly set up for Schiff, overall, there is not much sympathy for the man who has constantly been attacking Bitcoin over the past few years.
Featured Image Credit: Photo via Pixabay.com
