The debate between traditional assets and emerging digital currencies has intensified, drawing attention from prominent figures in the financial world. One such figure is Peter Schiff, a well-known economist, financial commentator, and stockbroker who has consistently expressed skepticism toward Bitcoin.
In recent times, Schiff has not only criticized the crypto itself but has also taken aim at Bitcoin investors who draw parallels between the digital asset and the age-old store of value, gold.
Peter Schiff on the never-ending Bitcoin and Gold comparison
Peter Schiff is a prominent economic commentator, financial analyst, and author. He gained attention for his accurate predictions about the 2008 financial crisis. Schiff is the founder of Euro Pacific Capital and serves as the CEO of Euro Pacific Asset Management.
In a recent tweet on X Peter Schiff states that “no matter how low the price of Bitcoin falls, its proponents will always be able to claim it outperformed gold.” This comes on the back of the recent Bitcoin market slump after the approval of Bitcoin ETFs.
As of this writing, the current value of Bitcoin (BTC) is $40,214.47, reflecting a 0.2% surge from one hour ago and a 0.4% surge since yesterday. BTC is currently worth 2.6% less than it did seven days ago. The aggregate trading volume of Bitcoin over the last twenty-four hours was $14,715,229,518.
The current value of the global crypto market cap is $1.64 trillion, representing a change of 0.48% over the last twenty-four hours and 51.09% over the past year. At the moment, BTC holds a market cap of $788 billion, signifying a market dominance of 48.05%. In contrast, Stablecoins have an 8.3% market cap share of the total crypto market cap at $136 billion.
To that end, Peter Schiff argues that the correlation to gold does not make sense. A use on X argued that “I don’t think anyone will be saying that at 100$ Peter.” to which he replied, “you are probably right”
Other users on X have expressed their dissatisfaction with Peter Schiff’s BTC market analysis. One X user by the name of Tyler Strejilevich states, “Translation: Peter can’t stop thinking about Bitcoin”
Another user has cautioned that Peter Schiff has been on this BTC crusade for over 10 years. The X user by the name of Jeff Berwick added, “Bro, in 2011, when gold was $2k and BTC was $10, you said BTC was going to zero and everyone should buy gold. 13 years later and gold is still at $2k and BTC is at $40,000. Just stop.”
Gold market performamce
The gold price (XAU/USD) is currently struggling to capitalize on yesterday’s day’s rally from the $2,010-$2,009 region, or the weekly low, and will oscillate in a narrow trading band into the early European session on Friday.
Traders choose to remain on the sidelines ahead of the US Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) Price Index, which should provide more clues about when the Federal Reserve (Fed) may begin decreasing interest rates. This, in turn, will significantly impact the US Dollar (USD) market dynamics, providing a new directional impulse to the non-yielding yellow metal.
Meanwhile, the USD Index, which tracks the US dollar against a basket of currencies, is nearing its best level since December 13 as the likelihood of a more aggressive Fed policy easing in 2024 declines.
This is acting as a headwind for the gold market, although further declines in US Treasury bond yields and continued concerns about geopolitical tensions in the Middle East provide some support to the safe-haven precious metal.
Nonetheless, the XAU/USD continues on track to record losses for the second consecutive week and now looks to the FOMC meeting on January 30-31.
According to statistics from the Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX), gold prices increased in India on Friday. The gold price stood at 62,151 Indian Rupees (INR) per 10 grams, up INR 99 from INR 62,052 on Thursday.
In terms of futures contracts, gold prices rose from INR 61,986 to INR 62,070 per 10 gms.
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