Economist and gold bug Peter Schiff says bitcoin still has a long way to fall after the collapse of crypto exchange FTX. He also believes that $10K is the real price of bitcoin, warning that “The lion’s share of the selling has not even started yet.”
Schiff Predicts ‘Bitcoin Still Has a Long Way to Fall’
Gold bug and economist Peter Schiff has warned in a series of tweets about the price of bitcoin falling a long way from its current level.
He began by referencing the forecast he made in June that the need to sell bitcoin to pay bills will only get worse as the recession deepens and long-term BTC holders without paychecks are forced to sell. Noting that it did not take long for his prediction to come true, Schiff tweeted Wednesday:
The lion’s share of the selling has not even started yet. Bitcoin still has a long way to fall.
He added in a follow-up tweet: “I’ve been warning for years that all the people who made money in crypto will be sued by all the people who lost money in crypto. So lawyer up pumpers.”
Commenting on the collapsed crypto exchange FTX and former CEO Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF), Schiff wrote: “I never looked into SBF as I never even considered investing in FTX. But had I done ten minutes of due diligence the red flags would have been obvious.” He elaborated:
That many in crypto were so easily duped by an obvious conman calls into question their judgment on everything crypto.
Schiff Thinks $10K Is the Real Price of Bitcoin
Schiff also shared his thoughts on the recent performance of Grayscale’s bitcoin trust (GBTC) and its relation to the price of bitcoin. The bitcoin skeptic wrote Friday:
Based on GBTC’s 43% discount to NAV, bitcoin is already trading well below $10K. I think this is the real price of bitcoin, as when you sell GBTC you get paid real cash. But when you sell BTC you get paid tether. To get actual cash for bitcoin you must accept a huge discount.
“GBTC is trading at a 46% discount now. New record. Something is definitely going on. Bitcoin is in real trouble. Get out while you can!” the gold bug added. At the time of writing, BTC is trading at $16,727.
Many people on Twitter disagreed with Schiff. One user opined: “This is just embarrassing. Imagine trashing BTC since it was $100, and all these years later, you still have no idea about any aspect of it.” Another wrote: “I have never got tether when I sold bitcoin. Also, the discount is because there are hedge funds that can only buy GBTC and not BTC that are getting trashed and have to raise whatever liquidity they can.”
Market analyst Joe Consorti explained on Twitter Friday that GBTC has been dumped by institutions all year long and its parent company Digital Currency Group (DCG) has chosen to pick up the bag “to mitigate the impact of the institutional-level selling pressure and prop up the fund’s net asset value (NAV).” However, he noted, “Still, that intervention hasn’t stopped the discount to NAV of the fund widen out to -42.7%.”
On Friday, Grayscale Investments shared information on the safety and security associated with its products. The asset management firm insisted that its products’ digital assets are safe and secure.
