Benzinga - Well-known economist and fierce Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) critic, Peter Schiff, tried downplaying the cryptocurrency's recent surge, highlighting its underperformance relative to silver.
What Happened: Using a previous April 3 post as a reference, Schiff underlined how the King Crypto has grown only 2% since then, while silver racked up gains of 21% in the same period.
Since the date of this post, #silver is up over 21% while #Bitcoin is up less than 2%. That's more than 10x the bang for your buck with silver. Bitcoin is dead. Long live silver. https://t.co/WkiUTJmmol— Peter Schiff (@PeterSchiff) May 18, 2024
At his usual taunting best, the precious metals advocate addressed the pro-Bitcoin crowd, saying, "That’s more than 10x the bang for your buck with silver. Bitcoin is dead. Long live silver."
Well-known cryptocurrency analyst Benjamin Cowen responded to Schiff's post with a GIF saying, "Cherry picking of data is an old problem."
Why It Matters: Schiff has been criticized for coming up with small timeframe windows as per his liking to highlight Bitcoin's weaknesses and exaggerate the performance of assets he supports.
Over a longer period, though, Bitcoin was seen outperforming the white metal. Year-to-date, the apex cryptocurrency jumped 58% in value, while silver grew by 35%.
In the last year, Bitcoin has surged nearly 150%, dwarfing silver's gains of 34% in the same time.
In a cheeky retort, a user digged out one of Schiff's old posts from 2018 and highlighted how Bitcoin surged over 1000% since then while gold—another precious metal that Schiff heavily endorses—grew by less than 60%.
While the bullion market gains in 2024 have been noteworthy, few assets are presently matching Bitcoin’s remarkable climb this year, driven largely by its increased exposure to traditional markets via spot ETFs.
Price Action: At the time of writing, Bitcoin was exchanging hands at $$66,698.41, down 0.80% in the last 24 hours, according to data from Benzinga Pro.
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