Economist and gold advocate Peter Schiff has downplayed the significance of the upcoming bitcoin halving, emphasizing a different factor that will drive the price of the cryptocurrency. He believes what matters the most is “how much of the current supply holders want to sell, not what miners create.”
Peter Schiff on Bitcoin Halving
Economist and gold bug Peter Schiff has shared his perspective on the upcoming bitcoin halving and what he believes to be the most important factor driving the price of bitcoin.
“The supply of bitcoin will not be cut in half by the halving,” Schiff stressed on social media platform X Tuesday. “Over ninety percent of the bitcoin supply already exists,” he added, elaborating:
The only thing cut in half is the growth rate of supply. What matters the most is how much of the current supply holders want to sell, not what miners create.
Numerous individuals responded to Schiff’s post, with many telling him that the total supply of bitcoin is fixed at 21 million coins. One wrote: “Supply is supply. Whatever is circulating or not circulating. There will only ever be 21 million.” Another explained: “The selling supply from miners is only newly minted supply, which is a fraction of the daily amount of bitcoin available for sale. Not that it won’t affect price at all, but not as big as insinuated. Daily trading vol of ~400,000 BTC of which 900 mint.”
Some people responded to Schiff by highlighting why bitcoin is a better store of value than gold. “Peter Schiff is right: the supply of new bitcoin issued is cut in half every 210,000 blocks (~4 years). Unlike gold, you can’t just mine more BTC when the price goes up. That’s what makes bitcoin a better store of value than gold. The total supply of bitcoin is fixed at 21M,” one detailed. “Good point. The decreasing flow of new supply will likely make current holders more confident knowing their savings is being debased even less,” Joe Burnett wrote. Crypto analyst Willy Woo commented:
This halvening is the one that cuts bitcoin’s inflation rate to half of that of gold. Gold’s supply is doubling every 70 or so years, but my guess is this may accelerate due to exponential technology gains in the 21st century.
As the price of bitcoin rallied, exceeding its all-time high, Schiff warned about a bitcoin bubble, advocating for gold as the prudent alternative. Last month, the economist warned of a BTC pump and dump, expecting to see a massacre. Meanwhile, bitcoin’s price has been soaring, fueled by massive demand for spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs).
Source: Bitcoin
