Peter Schiff: Powell Hops on the Bitcoin Bandwagon

On Friday, Peter took to his podcast to analyze a week full of economic data, public statements made by Fed Chair Jerome Powell, and lots of movement in the Bitcoin world. Peter focuses this episode on Powell’s public comments on inflation and Bitcoin, noting that speculation surrounding a possible Bitcoin reserve is responsible for driving the asset to all-time high prices. 

Powell’s comments at the Dealbrook Summit pleased the Bitcoin world on Wednesday. Notably, Powell said Bitcoin is a speculative asset, not a currency:

He said, ‘No, I don’t think of it that way. I don’t see it as a currency. I don’t see it as a competitor to the dollar. It’s not a currency.’ He said it’s a highly volatile asset that’s like gold. He said, ‘It’s digital gold. And so I see Bitcoin as a competitor to gold, not a competitor to the dollar.’ And of course, that’s exactly what the Bitcoin community wants to hear, right? Because they claim that Bitcoin is digital Gold.

Peter highlights the conflict between how Bitcoiners used to speak about Bitcoin and how they speak about it today. They seem to say whatever is necessary to drive the price to new highs:

So initially, people said, ‘Oh, the dollar is going to go down. Dollar inflation, budget deficits. We’re going to keep printing dollars. Bitcoin is an alternative to the dollar. You need to buy Bitcoin because the dollar is going to go down.’ Now they’re saying that Bitcoin is the salvation of the dollar: ‘You don’t have to worry about the dollar anymore because it’s going to be backed by Bitcoin. So we’re going to buy all this Bitcoin in a strategic reserve, and that’s going to strengthen the dollar.’

Powell’s comments reflect a serious misunderstanding about the relationship between gold, the dollar, and crypto:

But Powell gets a lot of stuff wrong, including that. Powell doesn’t understand gold at all. And in fact, gold is a competitor to the dollar. Maybe he doesn’t understand that. So if he thinks Bitcoin is digital gold, then it should be a competitor to the dollar. Because central banks have a choice. They can hold dollars or they can hold gold. And apparently, they can hold Bitcoin according to Powell.

Contrast this view to what former Fed Chair Alan Greenspan said about crypto, and you’ll see that Powell is wrong:

Look at what Alan Greenspan said about Bitcoin. He said, it’s nothing like gold. He said it’s unlike gold. It doesn’t have any intrinsic value. He said that Bitcoin is based on the greater fool theory, which is exactly what it’s based on. It’s just based on somebody paying more money than the next guy and the belief that if you buy it, someone else is going to pay more.

In an economy where inflation and stagflation are still threats, Powell should be focusing on more pressing matters, namely, the interest burden on the national debt and stable prices:

And the interest burden continues to rise. And even if the Fed cuts rates in December by 25 basis points, which it will do, and, you know, even if we get a couple more cuts, you’re still talking about over 4% rates. And that’s a big number for all this maturing debt that was taken out at 25 bps, 50 bps, and now has to be rolled over.

Despite all his merits, President-elect Trump does not seem serious about reforming the spending problems and inflationary pressures at the heart of the economy. Hopefully Peter will be proven wrong on this:

The problems he [Trump] inherited got worse, not better. He didn’t make America great again. Our trade deficits went up, our budget deficits up. He just succeeded in blowing more air into the bubble. That’s it. And if he hopes to repeat that, well, it’s a much bigger bubble now. The economy is in far worse shape in 2025 or will be than it was in 2016.

For an overview of the last week of economic data, listen to Joel on last week’s episode of the SchiffGold Gold Wrap Podcast!