[2024-03-14] Peter Schiff Downplays Importance of Bitcoin Halving ...

[chmod755]

Peter Schiff Downplays Importance of Bitcoin Halving — Discusses 'What Matters Most' for BTC Price

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: https://news.bitcoin.com/peter-schiff-downplays-importance-of-bitcoin-halving-discusses-what-matters-most-for-btc-price/

I also think the halving should not be a big factor for price, because it was already known in 2009 that there would be all these halvings in Bitcoin 

[Kakmakr]

Yes, there are still a lot of coins that are already mined, but the demand for those coins have increased a lot, because Bitcoin ETFs are popping up like mushrooms and these trading platforms are buying coins like there are no tommorow.

The "Halving" will reduce the supply of new coins, so the stockpile of coins will be reduced over time and there will be a bigger shortage of coins in the future. (That is to say, if trading platforms keep buying more coins)

[cr1776]

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“The supply of bitcoin will not be cut in half by the halving,” Schiff
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Duh.  Only someone really ignorant about bitcoin could think that needed to be cleared up.  It is, and has always been, clear that the halving cuts "new supply" - e.g. the bitcoins that are awarded for a mined block.

That is the difference between gold and bitcoin:  if the price goes high enough for gold, there are lots of other sources that can increase the supply indefinitely here on earth and in the solar system.  Bitcoin's supply is guaranteed to be finite, gold's is subject to increasing supply due to an increased price.  Some studies say hundreds of trillions of dollars worth of gold in the ocean that would be recoverable at a high enough price.  While there are reasons gold has been valuable for so long, there is certainly a non-finite supply of gold at the right price. 

If bitcoin goes to $1,000,000/coin there is no way to get more supply. 

Schiff has had some insightful comments in the past, but he has a huge blind spot for bitcoin.

[chmod755]

Schiff has had some insightful comments in the past, but he has a huge blind spot for bitcoin.

He missed out on millions of potential gains. Schiff knew about Bitcoin when it was like $10/BTC or something like that

That is the difference between gold and bitcoin:  if the price goes high enough for gold, there are lots of other sources that can increase the supply indefinitely here on earth and in the solar system.  Bitcoin's supply is guaranteed to be finite, gold's is subject to increasing supply due to an increased price.  Some studies say hundreds of trillions of dollars worth of gold in the ocean that would be recoverable at a high enough price.  While there are reasons gold has been valuable for so long, there is certainly a non-finite supply of gold at the right price.  

True, however, gold as a material is here to stay. Bitcoin and cryptocurrency in general are human inventions - human inventions are replaced by something new and exciting after a while. So maybe Bitcoin will never reach the maximum supply.