Economist Peter Schiff said Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) did “great” in its first ten years, but the cryptocurrency’s performance since then has been far less impressive.
Schiff on How He Sets His Timeframes
Speaking with Benzinga, Schiff said he doesn’t like assessing Bitcoin from the very beginning because it’s “meaningless.”
“You gotta differentiate between when the bubble was blowing up and then when the air started coming out,” he said, pointing out that even if BTC crashed to $1,000, it would still be a great return compared with prices in 2010.
Schiff stated that he typically uses Bitcoin’s 2021 peak as a benchmark when comparing it to current prices.
“It’s still not much higher than it was then. So it hasn’t really delivered much in the way of returns since that peak,” the Bitcoin critic added.
Bitcoin Lags Gold, Stocks From Schiff’s ‘Peak’
The "peak" Schiff is referring to is roughly $69,000 on Nov. 10, 2021, which marked the top of Bitcoin’s 2020–21 bull cycle.
Since then, Bitcoin has underperformed both gold and the S&P 500, despite being the most successful asset over a decade or so.
It’s worth noting that Bitcoin peaked at $126,000 during the last bull cycle, and is down 33% since then.
| Asset | 14-Year Gains +/- | Gains Since Bitcoin’s 2021 Peak +/- |
|---|---|---|
| Bitcoin | +703,179% | +20.842% |
| Spot Gold |
+148% | +126.265% |
| S&P 500 | +438% | +68.016% |
“People are trading it [Bitcoin], but I think the big gains were made, and now they’re just cashing out,” Schiff said.
In his year-end forecasts, Schiff anticipated that gold would outperform Bitcoin, adding, ” I think they’ll recouple, and gold will go up from here and Bitcoin would go back
Price Action: As of this writing, BTC was trading at $83,701, down 0.50% in the last 24 hours, according to Benzinga Pro.
Photo Courtesy: Peter Schiff