Peter Schiff is taking a victory lap — at least for now

Peter Schiff, a longtime Bitcoin skeptic, piled on Strategy this week after the company slipped roughly $630 million underwater on its Bitcoin holdings, erasing about $47 billion in unrealized gains accumulated just four months ago as Bitcoin fell below Strategy’s $76,037 average cost basis.

Bitcoin dropped about 15% in the first four days of February, pushing Strategy’s position into the red for the first time since Michael Saylor began accumulating the cryptocurrency in August 2020. While Bitcoin remains up roughly 550% since that first purchase, the recent slide has exposed Strategy’s heavy buying near the October peak.

Schiff, a vocal gold advocate and longtime crypto critic, argued that Strategy’s aggressive accumulation helped fuel Bitcoin’s meteoric rise — and that the unwind has now begun. “If Bitcoin ever bottoms, it won’t be until after Strategy sells its last satoshi,” Schiff wrote on X, suggesting the company’s reduced buying power is now dragging prices lower.

The criticism cuts at a sensitive point. Strategy’s model depends on keeping Bitcoin prices high enough to issue stock above net asset value, raising capital to buy even more Bitcoin. A prolonged dip below its cost basis complicates that playbook.

Still, Saylor remains defiant. As prices slid, he doubled down on social media, posting: “The Rules of Bitcoin: 1. Buy Bitcoin 2. Don’t Sell the Bitcoin.”

Speaking at the Bitcoin MENA conference in December, Saylor framed Strategy not as a concentrated risk, but as a gateway for mass adoption. He said roughly 15 million beneficiaries now hold exposure to Bitcoin through Strategy securities via pension funds, insurance companies, sovereign wealth funds, and retail accounts — including 15% of Strategy shares held in Charles Schwab retail accounts alone.

Strategy claims it has already provided Bitcoin exposure to around 50 million people, with expectations to reach 100 million over time. Saylor also argued that the company’s actions added $1.8 trillion to Bitcoin’s market value, with the bulk of gains flowing to holders outside corporate and institutional ownership.

Addressing concerns that Strategy controls about 3% of Bitcoin’s total supply, Saylor dismissed concentration risk, saying ownership is effectively distributed across millions of investors. He has gone further, suggesting that at higher ownership levels — and much higher Bitcoin prices — trillions in value would transfer to non-corporate holders globally.

Saylor’s core argument remains unchanged: corporate participation is essential to Bitcoin’s long-term ascent. Without it, he contends, Bitcoin would languish near $10,000 with a far smaller network. With it, he believes the path leads to trillion- and even hundred-trillion-dollar valuations.

For now, Schiff is enjoying the downturn. Whether it’s a temporary drawdown or a crack in Strategy’s Bitcoin-first strategy is the question markets are wrestling with next.