{"id":111179,"date":"2019-08-01T03:08:38","date_gmt":"2019-08-01T03:08:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cryptoslate.com\/?p=111179"},"modified":"2019-11-25T06:45:58","modified_gmt":"2019-11-25T06:45:58","slug":"pomp-and-peter-schiffs-showdown-on-cnbc-crypto-trader-bitcoin-vs-gold","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cryptoslate.com\/pomp-and-peter-schiffs-showdown-on-cnbc-crypto-trader-bitcoin-vs-gold\/","title":{"rendered":"Pomp and Peter Schiff’s Showdown on CNBC Crypto Trader: Bitcoin vs. Gold"},"content":{"rendered":"

Euro Pacific Capital CEO and self-professed \u201cgold bug\u201d Peter Schiff took on Morgan Creek Digital partner Anthony Pompliano<\/a> Tuesday in a jarring hour-long CNBC Crypto Trader debate<\/a> over the merits of gold versus Bitcoin.<\/p>\n

The event had been widely promoted on Twitter by CNBC\u2019s stalwart cryptocurrency bull, Ran Neuner<\/a>\u2014who as the show\u2019s host and moderator brimmed visibly with excitement as the two entrepreneurs engaged one another on the moot.<\/p>\n

Schiff, a gold proponent, and Pompliano, one of the cryptosphere\u2019s celebrated Bitcoin bulls, have in recent years become two of Twitter\u2019s most vocal mouthpieces for their assets of choice and have repeatedly traded blows over their merits on the social media platform.<\/p>\n

Whatever tensions had been drummed up prior, however, the debate began with marked restraint and a number of concessions made on both sides.<\/p>\n

First, Pomp and Schiff Break Bread Over Global Uncertainty<\/h2>\n

Presumably wanting to shake off the faintest whiff of Bitcoin maximalism, Pomp installed his expectedly moderate stance noting he saw \u201ceye-to-eye\u201d with Schiff on the current importance of \u201cgood stores of value\u201d given the number of factors indicating an impending global recession.<\/p>\n

The Morgan Creek executive noted gold was included in such a category, seemingly attempting to diffuse tensions and turn debate into discussion:<\/p>\n

“I actually think gold has a place in peoples\u2019 portfolio, but I do think it\u2019s a little short-sighted to say gold, not Bitcoin.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Schiff reciprocated the gesture of goodwill offering \u201ca lot of sympathy\u201d to Bitcoin proponents\u2014whom he understood looked to overcome the shortcomings of the traditional monetary system. Sentiments of solidarity for Bitcoin and its community seemed to be all but exhausted after this admission.<\/p>\n

Schiff: Bitcoin can\u2019t replicate the qualities of gold<\/h2>\n

Gold, according to Schiff, originally derived its status as store of value because of its real-world utility outside of storage and transaction\u2014a key distinction from the original cryptocurrency that gave it supposedly irreplicable value and made people \u201cneed gold\u201d. He stated:<\/p>\n

Bitcoin has much more in common with a fiat currency than it does with gold, because gold\u2019s value is derived from its physical properties that make it desirable and make it useful, whereas Bitcoin\u2019s value is derived from the confidence that people are going to want it in the future even though it has no physical properties or any other properties you can use it for.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

This quickly became a recurring mantra in Schiff\u2019s argument, with the financier on more than one occasion reiterating gold\u2019s usage cases in consumer electronics and jewelry\u2014the latter being an example that at one point drew Neu-Ner into the firing line when he chortled. Schiff did not appear to be in the mood for light-hearted humor, scolding the moderator:<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t downplay how important jewelry is. It\u2019s important in culture; it\u2019s important in religion.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The sole value of Bitcoin, on the other hand, was in the words of Schiff \u201ccompletely a function of the confidence that people have that they\u2019ll be able to give it to somebody else in the future for a higher price.\u201d<\/p>\n

And to Schiff, even this one utility had serious limitations, adding he knew \u201cmany people\u201d that had \u201cpie-in-the-sky delusions about how high the price\u201d of Bitcoin would go.<\/p>\n

Not Pomp\u2019s first time in the ring<\/h2>\n

Pomp\u2014arguably one of the more battle-hardened spokespersons for Bitcoin\u2014seemed to have on hand a boundless supply of statistics and carefully sculpted analogies to counter Schiff\u2019s blows.<\/p>\n

He pointed to indicators other than price the cryptocurrency was being realized as a store of value, while surmising gold was valued most widely for speculative properties, not for physical products as Schiff claimed.<\/p>\n

Citing the transaction volumes handled by Bitcoin in 2018, which as reported previously by CryptoSlate exceeded that of PayPal<\/a> in USD terms, Pomp suggested BTC\u2019s recent price appreciation stemmed from the continued growth of the network and its internet-enabled virality\u2014a \u201cnetwork effects\u201d quality mirrored in the successes of Google, Uber, and other technological incumbents. He explained:<\/p>\n

To get you to switch is really really hard to do, because once the network starts to grow, there\u2019s lock-in. And so when you get that with money, you\u2019re getting millions of people.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

In Pomp\u2019s words, Bitcoin is a \u201clayer one technology\u201d akin to gold, with the added benefits of it being more portable, non-seizable, cryptographically secure, divisible, and fixed in supply.<\/p>\n

Bitcoin today is simply serving as a layer one technology, it\u2019s the equivalent of gold in that it doesn\u2019t need to be super scalable for transactions like coffee etc.\u2014there will be these other layers that eventually get built on top of it.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Schiff remains unmoved, paints all cryptos with the same brush<\/h2>\n

Schiff at times had to be directed back to the topic at hand by Neu-Ner\u2014the gold bull more than once taking aim at the wider cryptocurrency community and the \u201c2000+ cryptos\u201d that he surmised had \u201cno value\u201d.<\/p>\n

At one point, the Connecticut native issued a scathing retort to Pomp\u2019s earlier nod to gold as an investment choice, suggesting \u201cyou might as well put lottery tickets in your portfolio [instead of cryptocurrency]\u201d.<\/p>\n

Despite the admission Bitcoin\u2019s price could once more break its all-time-high, Schiff\u2019s apparently unshakable stance seemed to impassion the moderator towards the last minutes of the debate\u2014Neu-Ner stepping in with a plea to let Pomp make his ultimate case.<\/p>\n

While no winner was announced by Neu-Ner, Pomp seemed to think he\u2019d done enough to claim bragging rights after the event:<\/p>\n

\n

BANG BANG \u2014 Sat down and schooled @PeterSchiff<\/a> on the future for an hour ?https:\/\/t.co\/crvkYe14Kv<\/a><\/p>\n

— Pomp ? (@APompliano) July 31, 2019<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n