Peter Schiff, the relentless gold maximalist and Bitcoin hater, has set his sights on Michael Saylor and his company MicroStrategy, accusing them of manipulating BTC price.
The sharp allegations followed Bitcoin’s meteoric rise to an all-time high of $106,493 last night. Pointing to MicroStrategy’s buying spree, Peter said that the company’s pattern of purchases is a calculated move to drive BTC prices higher.
“Most likely, we’ll find out tomorrow that Saylor was the buyer. That seems to be the trend—it’s happened the last five Mondays in a row,” he quipped in one of his routine scathing social media posts.
Now Peter has been consistent in his hatred. “Bitcoin misdirects investments from essential sectors,” he has said in the past, claiming that it diverts resources away from productive endeavors. He’s particularly critical of government officials who support Bitcoin investments, calling it a misuse of taxpayer money.
MicroStrategy’s Bitcoin obsession
MicroStrategy’s buying frenzy began in July when the company purchased 12,222 BTC for $805.2 million, paying an average price of $65,882 per coin. By the end of that month, its total stash had swelled to 226,500 BTC, acquired at a cumulative cost of $8.3 billion.
While figures for August and September remain murky, December turned into a showcase of MicroStrategy’s unapologetic appetite for Bitcoin. On December 9, the company announced a jaw-dropping purchase of 21,550 BTC for $2.1 billion.
This was the fifth consecutive Monday of major acquisitions, establishing a suspiciously consistent buying pattern that the likes of Peter are quick to cite in their accusations.
At press time, MicroStrategy holds 423,650 BTC. With BTC above $100,000, the company’s holdings were valued at over $43.6 billion. Saylor hinted at even more purchases, saying that the company is now paying over $100,000 per token. If true, MicroStrategy’s Bitcoin portfolio could soon approach $50 billion in value.
Coincidence or manipulation?
Every time MicroStrategy announces a new Bitcoin acquisition, the market reacts. And it’s not subtle. The correlation between Saylor’s buying habits and BTC’s price movements is frankly too conspicuous to ignore.
Bitcoin’s decentralized and lightly regulated nature makes it a prime target for manipulation. Common tactics like pump-and-dump schemes, spoofing, and wash trading have plagued the industry for years, and institutional players risk exploiting these same loopholes on a much larger scale.
While some folks like to argue that institutional involvement legitimizes Bitcoin as a mainstream asset, others, like the author of this article, believe it undermines the principles that the digital asset was built on.
It’s unclear who needs who more; Bitcoin or TradFi?
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