Economist Peter Schiff is having a moment. After years of championing precious metals while dismissing Bitcoin (BTC) as worthless, he's finally got some data to back up his trash talk. And he's not being shy about it.
Silver Hits Record Highs as Schiff Takes Victory Lap
In a recent post on X, Schiff celebrated silver's surge past $60 per ounce—a fresh all-time high—following a nearly 5% intraday jump. "As I forecast, once silver took out the $50 long-term double top, it would be off to the races," declared Schiff, who's arguably the loudest voice in the precious metals cheerleading squad.
But Schiff couldn't resist twisting the knife a bit. "Today's 2% Bitcoin rally is a good opportunity to unload some fool's gold and buy silver!" he added, calling out Bitcoin holders directly.
The Numbers Tell a Complicated Story
Here's where things get interesting. Bitcoin has absolutely been trailing silver lately, losing over 12% in the past month while spot silver rocketed up 21% during the same stretch. The one-year comparison is even more brutal for crypto enthusiasts: Bitcoin is down 5.51% while silver has surged nearly 92%.
But zoom out to five years, and the picture flips dramatically. Bitcoin has exploded with a 402% gain, absolutely demolishing silver's still-respectable 155% return. So who's winning depends entirely on when you started counting.
| Asset | Monthly Gains +/- | 1-Year Gains +/- | 5-Year Gains +/- | Price in USD (Recorded at 9:50 p.m. ET) |
| Bitcoin | -12.67% | -5.51% | +402% | $92,322.80 |
| Spot Silver | +21.16% | +91.98% | +155.71% | $61.2215/Troy Ounce |
Bitcoin's Silver Value Gets Crushed
Perhaps the most striking stat: a year ago, you needed 3,030 ounces of silver to buy one Bitcoin. Today? Just 1,508 ounces. That's a jaw-dropping 51% collapse in Bitcoin's value when measured in silver, even though its dollar value only fell 5.5%. It's a reminder that "value" is whatever you're measuring it against.
| Cryptocurrency | Value in Silver ounces (Recorded on Dec. 10, 2024) | Value in Silver ounces (Recorded at 9:50 p.m. ET) | Gains +/- |
| Bitcoin | 3,030.30 | 1508.01 | -51% |
Silver hasn't just beaten Bitcoin recently—it's been crushing nearly every major asset class this year. Gold, the S&P 500 (VOO), the Nasdaq-100 (QQQ), and even long-term bonds tracked by the iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF (TLT) have all underperformed the shiny metal.
Schiff Doubles Down on Bitcoin Criticism
Schiff has been relentlessly critical of Bitcoin for years, and he's only getting louder. Last month, he claimed that Bitcoin is starting to act like a "mirror image" of silver—when silver rises, Bitcoin crashes. He's maintained that Bitcoin has no real utility beyond people believing it has value.
Even Binance founder Changpeng Zhao weighed in last week, suggesting that despite being "stubborn," Schiff is actually getting "too close" to accepting Bitcoin's potential. Whether that's optimism or trolling is anybody's guess.
The broader question remains: is silver's moment sustainable, or is this just another cycle in the eternal battle between digital and physical assets? Schiff clearly has his answer, but the five-year chart suggests Bitcoin believers aren't exactly panicking yet.