Peter Schiff Defends Gold Against Bitcoin in Heated Tucker Carlson Debate on Reserve Currency Status
Tucker Carlson confronts renowned gold proponent Peter Schiff in a candid discussion about Bitcoin's potential to replace the weakening US dollar as a global reserve asset.
During a recent appearance on Tucker Carlson's program, longtime gold enthusiast Peter Schiff has doubled down on his criticism of Bitcoin and the wider cryptocurrency sector.
During his appearance on the show, Schiff contends that Bitcoin (BTC) functions merely as a speculative asset lacking "no actual use" and cautions that suggestions for establishing a US strategic reserve represent nothing more than a government-funded rescue package for those who bought in early.
Throughout the discussion, Schiff dedicates considerable time to criticizing government inflation statistics and budgetary decisions, asserting to Carlson that the American public is "being lied to" regarding inflation figures, and maintaining that authorities modified the Consumer Price Index methodology to shift blame onto the private sector for escalating living costs, when businesses were "simply raising prices in response to inflation."
He specifically targets President Donald Trump's landmark Big Beautiful Bill as "the worst thing that we've done under Trump," contending that the bill not only maintained all the deficit spending from President Joe Biden's administration, but "made it worse" through "increasing government spending" while simultaneously reducing tax revenue.
"Complete waste of capital"
Schiff quickly pivots to discussing the cryptocurrency sector and expresses frustration about the US government "promoting" it, characterizing it as a "complete waste of capital," which has led numerous Americans to "throw their money away" on digital currencies.
After Carlson interrupts to challenge him, asking, "Why is it throwing it away?" and questioning how investing in Bitcoin differs fundamentally from purchasing gold or equities, Schiff responds that BTC lacks "no actual use" outside of speculative trading and "the only reason anybody wants to buy it" is because "they think the price is going to go up." "That is the sole source of demand," he stated.
He further claimed that individuals who "made money in crypto" achieved those gains solely because "the crypto that they bought a long time ago went way up," rather than because they created anything valuable, or improved people's quality of life.
"How's that different from buying gold? You're not making anything. You're not making anyone's life better," Carlson interjects, prompting Schiff to respond:
"There's a big difference… [Bitcoin] is never going to earn money in the future. It is a non-income-producing digital asset. It's got nothing in common with gold."
Bitcoin: The new global reserve currency?
After hearing Schiff's commentary on the current state of the worldwide economy and the erosion of the US dollar's buying power, Carlson poses the question of whether Bitcoin might serve as the next international reserve asset given declining faith in the dollar.
Schiff completely rejects this notion, asserting that a Bitcoin strategic reserve represents merely a "Bitcoin bailout fund," designed to utilize taxpayer funds, and suggesting that certain early investors "were able to pay off a bunch of politicians and get them to support Bitcoin."
He maintains that both BTC and traditional fiat money systems are fundamentally faith-based, though central banks cannot depend on Bitcoin since it lacks non-monetary utility and would experience a total collapse if monetary authorities attempted to liquidate it in substantial quantities.
In contrast, he describes gold as "real money" and "a valuable commodity" with applications in jewelry manufacturing, aerospace engineering, consumer electronics production and medical applications, and suggests that tokenized, fully backed gold products on blockchain networks can provide internet-native payment solutions without generating inflation or depending on perpetually increasing token valuations.
The price of gold has been on a tear lately, reaching a new all-time high over $5,000 an ounce on Monday, amid rising global trade tensions, while the Bitcoin price fell briefly below $86,000, signaling a sharp divergence as the precious metal surged 17% in January.