Economist and market commentator Peter Schiff warned on Wednesday that Americans would bear the brunt of the impact should the Bitcoin BTC/USD “bubble” burst.
What Happened: During his podcast, Schiff disputed the notion that the U.S. establishing a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve would spark a global race to acquire BTC.
“If the U.S. government is not going to buy any Bitcoin, then why is anybody else?” Schiff questioned. “I never believed that other countries would be dumb enough to buy Bitcoin just because we did it.”
The Bitcoin critic argued that the U.S. did it because politicians were influenced by the cryptocurrency lobby, an allegation that he has also made in the past.
Schiff also stated that the U.S. has the world’s biggest cryptocurrency lobby and that Americans owned more Bitcoin than anyone else.
“We’ve got the lion’s share of this bubble. So when the Bitcoin and crypto bubble pops, where it does the most harm is in the U.S.,” Schiff opined.
According to the World Population Review, India, followed by the China, had the largest Bitcoin-owning population as of 2023, with the U.S. ranking third. That said, institutional Bitcoin adoption was led by firms based out of the U.S., data from Bitcoin Treasuries showed.
Additionally, the largest Bitcoin-based investment vehicles were all U.S.-based, led by the iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF IBIT.
See Also: House Committee Favors Stablecoin Regulation To ‘Strengthen’ Dollar: Majority Whip Says CBDCs Against ‘American Values’
Why It Matters: Schiff’s comments come in the wake of the U.S. government’s decision to hold Bitcoin as a reserve asset, a move he has previously criticized. Schiff branded such investments "waste of resources" and predicted that they would end up damaging the U.S. dollar.
Schiff's views on Bitcoin have been controversial in the cryptocurrency community, with many accusing him of engagement farming by repeatedly mentioning the leading asset in his social media posts.
Price Action: At the time of writing, Bitcoin was exchanging hands at $83,447.18, up 2.09% in the last 24 hours, according to data from Benzinga Pro.
Image via Shutterstock
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