Bitcoin adversary and economist Peter Schiff has made another swipe at the digital asset and MicroStrategy, a publicly traded company that has invested heavily in the digital asset. Schiff has always been outspoken about his disdain for bitcoin and has now turned his attention to MicroStrategy and its former CEO, Michael Saylor.
Why MicroStrategy bought Bitcoin
In a tweet, Peter Schiff revealed to his more than 890,000 Twitter followers what he believes was the real reason behind Michael Saylor and MicroStrategy’s move to start investing in bitcoin. According to Schiff, former CEO Michael Saylor had admitted that buying BTC was actually a last-ditch effort to avoid liquidating the company. He further dissed the company, saying it has nothing but a leveraged speculative position on the digital asset.
For the first time I heard @saylor admit that add #Bitcoin to the @MicroStrategy balance was actually a Hail Mary to avoid liquidation of the company. If the only one $MSTR going for is a leveraged speculative position in Bitcoin, then it has no use for it.
— Peter Schiff (@PeterSchiff) December 20, 2022
As expected, Schiff’s strikes toward bitcoin were met with backlash from supporters. One user took to the comment section to defend MicroStrategy’s decision as one made to acquire the “scarrest and most desirable asset the world has ever seen.” However, Schiff would denounce this by saying that bitcoin was in no way scarce nor desirable. He also added that bitcoin was a way to lose money.
Schiff continues to advocate for gold as a better option for investors. Bitcoin maximalist Dan Held hit back at the economist, saying: “[Gold] is hardly frightened and in no way desirable. If you want to lose your money, there are plenty of ways to do it. You don’t have to buy [Gold].”
BTC touches above $16,800 | Source: BTCUSD on TradingView.com
So why did Saylor buy BTC?
Michael Saylor is perhaps one of the most vocal bitcoin bulls. The ex-CEO of MicroStrategy has Previously mentioned that his decision to buy bitcoin was because he believed the digital asset is the future of finance. Furthermore, Saylor previously revealed that he personally owned BTC before MicroStrategy began purchasing the cryptocurrency, with his own personal holdings serving as proof of the asset’s profitability.
Since the company expects the price of bitcoin to rise over time, it believes it will serve as an effective inflation hedge in the long run. Saylor himself called BTC “digital gold,” saying, “We find Bitcoin’s global adoption, brand recognition, ecosystem vitality, network dominance, architectural resilience, technical usability, and community ethos compelling evidence of its superiority as an asset class. for those looking for a long-term store of value.
MicroStrategy’s decision to invest in bitcoin also helped boost the company’s popularity, going from a background business to one of the most popular names among cryptocurrency enthusiasts.
MicroStrategy is currently the publicly traded company with the largest BTC holdings in the world. The company held 130,000 BTC as of September 30, 2022, worth more than $2.1 billion at current market prices. With a cumulative entry value of nearly $4 billion, the company posts more than $1.7 billion in unrealized losses after the market downturn.
Featured image from Blockchain Reporter, chart from TradingView.com