In a heated live debate organized by ZeroHedge and presented on YouTube, billionaire investor Anthony Scaramucci of SkyBridge Capital sparred with top analyst Peter Schiff over whether Bitcoin (BTC) or gold serves as a better inflation hedge.
They were joined by the CEO of ShapeSchift Erik Voorhees and Nouriel Roubini, a professor of economics at NYU.
BTC as digital gold
Peter Schiff, a longstanding critic of Bitcoin, opened the debate by arguing that Bitcoin, originally created as a digital currency, fails to function effectively due to its slow and expensive nature.
Bitcoin proponents are attempting to reposition it as a digital version of gold, Schiff said. Still, in his view, it falls short of gold’s intrinsic value derived from its physical properties.
“Bitcoin is no more digital gold than an image of a hamburger is digital food,” Schiff noted.
He emphasized gold’s tangible utility in industries like jewelry and electronics, contrasting it with Bitcoin, which he believes lacks practical uses and utility.
Regarding gold’s enduring value, Schiff asserted that it retains its intrinsic properties over time, serving as a genuine store of value. He also argued that the perceived value of Bitcoin is merely based on speculative demand and does not reflect any inherent usefulness or practical applications.
BTC as asset
Scaramucci countered Schiff’s argument by highlighting that only 5% of gold’s value is derived from manufacturing purposes, with the majority attributed to its acceptance as a store of value.
He emphasized that Bitcoin, like gold, has a deflationary aspect due to its fixed supply. Scaramucci views Bitcoin as “digital gold,” noting its portability compared to physical gold.
He also pointed that Bitcoin is following an adoption curve that will impact its value over decades, likening it to the trajectory of tech stocks that became standard over time and contributed to the S&P 500 index.
BTC breaks $63K
Cryptocurrencies rebounded on Friday, driven by a rise in Bitcoin’s (BTC) price, raising optimism that the recent drawdown may be subsiding. BTC climbed nearly 5%, briefly surpassing $63,000.
This surge followed a cooler-than-expected U.S. April jobs report, which alleviated concerns about potential increases in interest rates.