Top 5 Bitcoin Critics Not Impressed With $100K BTC Milestone

Bitcoin, the world's largest by market capitalization, is no stranger to criticism from economists, politicians, bankers and investors.

In the year Since its launch in 2008, Bitcoin (BTC) has been subject to countless hostile and skeptical reviews, with some critics calling it a scam or predicting that Bitcoin is set to go to zero.

As Bitcoin has grown and grown over the past few years, some critics have reinvented themselves as Bitcoin lovers, while others have dialed back their reasons for not liking the cryptocurrency.

But even if bitcoin rises above $100,000 for the first time in December 2024, some crypto critics are still hesitating to bet on the thriving ecosystem.

Cointelegraph has picked a handful of Bitcoin analysts who continue to dismiss Bitcoin as it hits a new all-time high in 2024, or at least take a skeptical stance on the cryptocurrency.

Peter Schiff: “Bitcoin Could Destroy the Dollar”

American stockbroker Peter Schiff, a well-known advocate of gold investments, has emerged as one of the strongest and longest-standing Bitcoin explorers.

Schiff has been criticizing bitcoin since at least 2013, when the cryptocurrency was only worth between $100 and $1,000. Still, despite Schiff's Bitcoin skepticism, his son, Spencer Schiff, didn't want BTC to miss out and decided to move 100% of his portfolio to BTC in 2021.

Bitcoin's $100,000 price mark was perhaps embarrassing for Schiff, who predicted that BTC would never reach $100,000 in 2019.

Despite being wrong in his prediction, Schiff continues to bash bitcoin, expressing concern about the US government's move to create a strategic bitcoin reserve.

“The irony is that Bitcoin may eventually destroy the dollar. […] Because the US government will embrace Bitcoin and print trillions of dollars, creating a huge bubble that will waste the nation's wealth,” Schiff wrote on X on the day BTC first reached $100,000.

In a Dec. 8 post on X, Schiff referred to Bitcoin as a “national security threat” and “public enemy number one” because the United States uses public money to buy BTC.

Paul Krugman: “Crypto is for Crime”

Paul Krugman is an American economist and journalist who won the 2008 Nobel Prize in Economics for his work on economic geography and international trade patterns.

As a long-time critic of Bitcoin, Krugman was often ridiculed in the crypto community for predicting in 1998 that the Internet's influence would be no bigger than a fax machine.

Like Schiff, Krugman has been critical of Bitcoin since the cryptocurrency's early years.

In the year In 2013, Krugman wrote an article for the New York Times entitled “Bitcoin is Evil”, in which he said that he was “very unconvincing” about Bitcoin due to its lack of fundamental financial characteristics.

Krugman in 2010 In another article in 2022, “Crypto is in many ways a Ponzi scheme, this may be the moment the scheme runs out of new predators.

It took Krugman nearly $100,000 to retire from The New York Times on December 6, but his criticism of crypto didn't stop there.

On December 16, Krugman published a blog post entitled “Crypto is a crime”, repeating one of the most popular narratives of Bitcoin naysayers.

He argued that while cash notes are “really an unsuitable medium for large-scale criminal activity”, cryptocurrencies such as BTC are better tools for illicit transactions.

“Perhaps crypto is not digital gold, but digital Benjamin — the $100 bills that play a major role in illegal activities around the world,” Krugman wrote.

ECB execs: “Bitcoin has failed on promise to become global decentralized digital currency”

The European Central Bank, the creator of the European Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) project – Digital Euro – was not among the most happy about the success of Bitcoin in 2024.

In October, ECB payments director Ulrich Bindseil and ECB adviser Jürgen Schaaf wrote a research warning about the “diffusion effects of Bitcoin.”

In the paper, the scholars called on people who do not own BTC to support legislation against Bitcoin. Early and existing Bitcoin holders argued that they were “exploiting” new buyers by selling BTC at high prices.

The ECB's Bindseil and Schaaf did not miss an opportunity to criticize Bitcoin in early 2024.

“Bitcoin has fallen short of its promise to become a global decentralized digital currency. Instead, it is used for illicit transactions. The latest approval by the EFF does not change the fact that bitcoin is neither a payment method nor an investment.

In the year In November 2022, Bindseil and Schaaf wrote “Bitcoin's last stand” for the ECB's blog, arguing that bitcoin “is rarely used for legitimate transactions.”

While attracting BTC, Bindseil and Schaaf have been constantly praising the potential European CBDC.

In the year In 2020, Bindseil described the ECB's yet-to-be-launched digital euro as CBDCs as “the most secure form of payment.”

“This [digital euro] This should be a game-changer as it refers to monetary payments directly bought by the ECB. […] The credibility of the payment system depends on trust in the ECB and not in the banks or the financial system.”

Jamie Dimon: “I Call It Pete's Rock”

Jamie Dimon, CEO of US bank giant JPMorgan Chase in 2024, remains one of the biggest Bitcoin skeptics despite JPMorgan's active involvement in spot Bitcoin ETFs.

Dimon, a long-time critic of Bitcoin, said in He says he's done talking about Bitcoin in early 2024, arguing that he doesn't care about the cryptocurrency even after BTC ETFs hit a historic high on Jan. 11.

“This is the last time I'm going to talk to CNBC about this, so help me God,” Dimon said of Bitcoin as “Pete Rock.”

It's unclear whether Dimon has changed his stance on bitcoin amid cryptocurrency's new highs following Donald Trump's election win.

In July, Trump – sometimes called America's first “Bitcoin president” – said that the CEO of JPMorgan had “changed the tune” about Bitcoin. Still, Dimon has remained true to his promise not to speak publicly about cryptocurrency since January.

Reuters reported in November that Dimon had no plans to join the Trump administration, despite questions over whether he would take on a senior government role after the election.

Rafi Farber: “When You Buy Bitcoin, You're Fueling US Inflation”

Rafi Farber, publisher of the gold-focused marketplace service Endgame Investor, is perhaps one of Bitcoin's few critics.

Farber's skepticism about Bitcoin comes from the view that money cannot be printed forever without a currency collapse, and that the higher the value of BTC, the more it contributes to the printing of more money.

Related: Bitcoin-Gold Ratio Sets New Record As BTC Sets New High

The financial journalist publicly stated in a blog post on December 5 that he was not happy with Bitcoin's high gold standard, but he still bet that Bitcoin will not survive the dollar crisis banking crisis.

In November, Farber took to his YouTube channel to discuss the relationship between Bitcoin, the Tether USDt (USDT) stablecoin, and US Treasurys.

“Teter is backed by US Treasuries, it's backed by the US dollar, that's why you redeem Tether, it's used to buy bitcoin, it's backed by Tether, it's backed by US Treasuries, it's backed by the US dollar, and so on,” Farber said. He added:

“It's an empty circle of money spinning in the air, and when you buy gold and silver, you're taking that money out of a fun ride. When you buy Bitcoin, you are boosting the value of Treasurys and perpetuating the power of the deep state while spreading US inflation.

Despite his skeptical attitude, Farber does not rule out changing his position on Bitcoin one day, but he has to see how the global financial crisis is resolved. And so he said.

“When this is triggered, if Bitcoin can maintain stability in gold ounce terms – not in dollars, I don't care about dollars – then I believe that bitcoin is an effective source of gold, and therefore not money itself, but viable. A source of funds that can be used for business”.

“I don't think that's going to happen,” he added, referring to the fact that in the last BTC crash, the price of Bitcoin dropped from 37.5 ounces of gold to 10 ounces.

“I think the next Bitcoin crash will be even worse relative to gold. We will soon see bank reserves fall below $3 trillion.

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