In a recent debate, Strike representative Jack Mallers defended Bitcoin against critic Peter Schiff. The central argument revolves around whether physical gold or 'digital gold' (BTC) is the superior form of money.
Bitcoin vs. Gold
Mallers asserts that Bitcoin is the 'best money' as it fulfills all the properties of money. 'BTC is the best money in human history...It’s the scarcest with a fixed supply, most portable, and most divisible...Over the last decade, BTC has had an annual average return of 60%, while Gold had a 2% return over the same duration.' Conversely, Schiff does not view BTC as money, arguing it lacks value and is primarily used for exchange and speculation. He acknowledged that BTC has outperformed every asset and commodity in the past decade but believes that tokenized gold is a superior alternative.
Gold's Limitations
Mallers pointed out that gold’s reliance on centralized third-party actors limits its scalability in a global economy, leading to its demonetization. He argued that if gold were a strong competitor, BTC adoption would have been slower. Mallers predicts that BTC could still hit $250K to $1M in the next 12 to 18 months due to liquidity injection and BTC’s superior technology. Schiff remains skeptical of these price targets but said he would accept his wrong stance on BTC if the asset gained mass adoption and became a top world reserve asset.
Predictions and Opinions
Schiff advises against speculative bets on BTC, stating there are better assets with less downside risk. He recently noted that gold investors saw a 140% gain compared to BTC ETFs after the latest market drawdowns. However, Peter Brandt suggested that BTC had more upside potential in the long term. At the time of the debate, BTC was the 10th largest asset by market cap, with a market cap of $1 trillion, while gold topped the chart with nearly $17 trillion.
The debate between Jack Mallers and Peter Schiff highlights contrasting views on the future of money and investments. Whether it’s traditional gold or innovative Bitcoin, the choice remains with the investors.
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