On Tuesday (April 14), Binance Co-Founder and CEO Changpeng Zhao (aka “CZ”) referred to famous gold bug Peter Schiff’s latest attack on Bitcoin, and suggested that such attacks only help to advertise Bitcoin.
Schiff 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. He is also a man who is extremely bullish on gold, bearish on the U.S. dollar, and highly skeptical about Bitcoin.
Schiff’s latest attack on Bitcoin came on Monday (April 13), when he said that Bitcoin’s only use case is speculation:
Cigarettes are money in prison because a large percentage of inmates smoke, and cigarettes are hard to get. They are valuable and scarce. But if everyone in prison quits smoking, cigarettes are still scarce, but worthless. If people quit speculating on #Bitcoin, the same applies.
— Peter Schiff (@PeterSchiff) April 13, 2020
When asked if one could not say the same thing about gold, Schiff replied:
Yes, if everyone stopped using gold in jewelry, electronic, etc. then yes it would have no value. But why would that happen? Gold is the most useful metal on the planet, and has been in use for thousands of years.
— Peter Schiff (@PeterSchiff) April 13, 2020
Then, earlier today, after seeing the above tweet, CZ had the following reaction:
Adorable Mr. Schiff.
He's like one of those jealous competitors that keep on spreading “bad news” about you, but don't realize they just keep talking about you.
He is one of the best advertisers for #bitcoin. https://t.co/lcRKTe3G5b
— CZ Binance 🔶🔶🔶 (@cz_binance) April 14, 2020
Although in the year-to-date period, against the U.S. dollar, gold has outperformed Bitcoin (+12.70% vs. -5.50%), what Schiff always conveniently neglects to mention is that over longer periods, such as three years, five years, or 10 years, Bitcoin has done vastly better.
Also, although in his latest attack on Bitcoin Schiff says that Bitcoin’s value exclusively comes from its current use for speculation, what he does not admit is that gold’s intrinsic value is quite small.
Here is what Joe Magyer, senior analyst at The Motley Fool, said back in April 2009, and his comment are probbaly just as valid today:
“I kind of think about gold the same way I think about stamps or art, or baseball cards. It has very little intrinsic value to it – it’s basically just a really shiny, malleable metal – unlike say oil, which has a lot of industrial purpose…
“Sure, gold has some (value), but the reality is, most of the value in there is just driven by speculation and fear, unlike oil, natural gas, et cetera, that people actually buy and use for industrial application.”
