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Peter Schiff: Peter Schiff speaking at an event in Las Vegas, Nevada (2016)

Peter Schiff

Stockbroker, gold advocate and longtime bitcoin critic

Known for
Financial commentator; Schiff Gold[1]
On bitcoin
“It's fool's gold”[4]
BTC at his 2017 CNBC take
$1,194 (Feb 27, 2017)[13]
Famous moment
Jan 2020 “lost” wallet: a PIN mix-up[6]

Photo: Peter Schiff speaking at an event in Las Vegas, Nevada (2016) by Gage Skidmore, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons. Cropped.

“Bitcoin is nothing like gold. It's fool's gold.”
Peter Schiff, Jun 27, 2019 · X (original)

Every quote is checked word for word against the original post or video, linked above.

Bio

Peter Schiff is an American stockbroker, financial commentator and radio personality. He co-founded Echelon Wealth Partners in Canada and is involved with Euro Pacific Asset Management and Schiff Gold.[1]

He is one of the most persistent public critics of bitcoin, arguing on TV, on his podcast and on X that gold is real money and bitcoin is a bubble. In February 2017, with bitcoin near $1,200, he told CNBC that today's bitcoin could be tomorrow's Beanie Babies.[2][3][13]

In January 2020 he posted that he had lost access to all the bitcoin he ever owned because his wallet app was corrupted. Four days later he explained he had mistaken his PIN for his password, and that Erik Voorhees had set the wallet up for him over dinner. It became a much-shared lesson about keeping your own backups.[5][6][7]

In March 2021 he posted that his son Spencer had gone all in on bitcoin, selling the last of his silver stocks, and called him “brainwashed.” Schiff still urges bitcoin holders to swap into gold.[8][9][10]

On the record: bitcoin quotes

Schiff has argued against bitcoin for well over a decade, mostly on X, on his podcast and in TV debates. A selection, oldest first. Prices are Coin Metrics daily closes. Part of our series Bitcoin's greatest hot takes.

  1. In a CNBC debate with trader Brian Kelly:

    “[Bitcoin] is digital fool's gold — today's bitcoin could be tomorrow's Beanie Babies”

    CNBC, “Bitcoin bug calls out Peter Schiff's gold infatuation” (Feb 27, 2017) · CNBC Fast Money video, “Today's Bitcoin could be ‘tomorrow's Beanie Babies’: Schiff” (Feb 27, 2017)

    BTC $1,194 that day → $81,269 on Oct 17, 2026 (×68)

  2. On X:

    “The idea that Bitcoin is just like gold is utter nonsense. Bitcoin is nothing like gold. It's fool's gold. There is not a single use case where Bitcoin can be used as a substitute for gold.”

    Peter Schiff on X (Jun 27, 2019): “The idea that Bitcoin is just like gold is utter nonsense…”

    BTC $11,110 that day → $81,269 on Oct 17, 2026 (×7.3)

  3. On X, after he could no longer open his wallet app:

    “I just lost all the #Bitcoin I have ever owned. My wallet got corrupted somehow and my password is no longer valid. So now not only is my Bitcoin intrinsically worthless; it has no market value either.”

    Peter Schiff on X (Jan 19, 2020): “I just lost all the #Bitcoin I have ever owned…”

    BTC $8,687 that day → $81,269 on Oct 17, 2026 (×9.4)

  4. Four days later, on X (Jan 22 in U.S. time zones):

    “My #Bitcoin mystery is solved. I mistook my pin for my password. When Blockchain updated their app I got logged out. I tired logging back in using my pin, which was the only "password" I had ever known or used. I also never had a copy of my seed phrase. Honest but costly mistake!”

    Peter Schiff on X (Jan 23, 2020 UTC): “My #Bitcoin mystery is solved…” · Peter Schiff on X (Jan 23, 2020): “Erik Voorhees set it up for me over dinner…”

    BTC $8,366 that day → $81,269 on Oct 17, 2026 (×9.7)

  5. On X, about his son Spencer:

    “My son @SpencerKSchiff went all in on #Bitcoin on the last drop below $50k. 100% of his portfolio is now in Bitcoin. He sold the last of his #silver stocks to raise the cash. If my own son is this brainwashed imagine how vulnerable most kids are. He's HODLing to infinity or bust.”

    Peter Schiff on X (Mar 10, 2021): “My son @SpencerKSchiff went all in on #Bitcoin…”

    BTC $56,116 that day → $81,269 on Oct 17, 2026 (+45%)

  6. Debated early bitcoin adopter Trace Mayer on the main stage at the Bitcoin 2025 conference.

    Bitcoin Magazine on YouTube, “Trace Mayer vs Peter Schiff” (May 29, 2025)

    BTC $105,733 that day → $81,269 on Oct 17, 2026 (−23%)

  7. On X:

    “Gold is eating Bitcoin's lunch. Bitcoin is now down 32% priced in gold since its August high. This Bitcoin bear market will be brutal. HODLers, sell your fool's gold now and buy the real thing, or have fun going broke.”

    Peter Schiff on X (Oct 16, 2025): “Gold is eating Bitcoin's lunch…”

    BTC $108,135 that day → $81,269 on Oct 17, 2026 (−25%)

  8. On X:

    “With all that's happening it's hard to believe that Bitcoin is still above $65,000. Don't press your luck HODLers. Get out while you can.”

    Peter Schiff on X (Mar 29, 2026): “…hard to believe that Bitcoin is still above $65,000…”

    BTC $65,967 that day → $81,269 on Oct 17, 2026 (+23%)

Prices: daily close in USD from the Coin Metrics Community API (terms). “Now” is the latest close, Oct 17, 2026. A higher price today doesn't prove a critic wrong about everything, and it is not a forecast.

The argument, fairly stated

Schiff's case is consistent and worth understanding: it is the gold standard's case against a newer form of scarce money. Here it is in his words, followed by the usual bitcoiner replies.

Schiff's case

  • Gold has uses and thousands of years of history as money; bitcoin is “nothing like gold” and has no use case where it can substitute for gold.[4]
  • Bitcoin has no intrinsic value, so its price rests on speculation. In his 2025 debate with Trace Mayer he argued it is a speculative bubble.[5][12]
  • Price falls prove the point. In October 2025 he said bitcoin was down 32% priced in gold from its August high and told holders to “sell your fool's gold now and buy the real thing.”[9]

The bitcoiner reply

  • Scarcity is the use case: in the same debate Mayer defended bitcoin's scarcity and “mathematical integrity.”[12]
  • The long-run record: bitcoin was about $1,194 on the day of his 2017 Beanie Babies remark and $81,269 (Coin Metrics close, Oct 17, 2026). That said, it has also had deep drops since, including after his October 2025 call.[13]
  • His lost-wallet scare was a password mix-up, not a flaw in bitcoin, and his own explanation is a good reminder to keep your recovery phrase backed up.[6]

Prices are Coin Metrics daily closes. We don't take a side; check the sources and decide for yourself.

Timeline

  1. Feb 27, 2017

    Compares bitcoin to Beanie Babies on CNBC[2]

  2. Jan 19, 2020

    Posts that his bitcoin is lost[5]

  3. Jan 23, 2020

    Explains it was a PIN mix-up[6]

  4. Mar 10, 2021

    Posts that son Spencer went all in on bitcoin[8]

  5. May 29, 2025

    Debates Trace Mayer at Bitcoin 2025[12]

Connections

No sourced connection to the other people on this site yet. We only draw links we can document.

Elsewhere on CHS

Sources

Checked Oct 17, 2026 · All people