Peter Schiff Says Wall Street's Bitcoin Bulls ‘Won't Put Money Where Their Mouth Is,’ Cites Strategy's Widening Discount

• Schiff said Wall Street banks tout bullish Bitcoin targets but never back them with capital, accusing them of staying bullish to keep crypto clients happy.
• He cited year-end targets from Citigroup, Standard Chartered, Bernstein, JPMorgan and Fundstrat, even as Bitcoin trades down 27% year-to-date.
• Schiff flagged Strategy's near-40% discount to its Bitcoin holdings and its STRC preferred shares yielding 13.7% as signs investors doubt the dividend is safe.

Financial commentator and longtime Bitcoin (BTC) critic Peter Schiff put forward a core criticism on Saturday, saying that mainstream Wall Street financial institutions publicly advocate bullish views on Bitcoin but have never backed their predictions with their own capital. 

"They don't believe their own bu***hit," Schiff said on his podcast on Sunday, arguing banks stay bullish publicly to avoid alienating cryptocurrency clients, and do not actually support the predictions they put forward. 

Schiff noted that by the end of the year, Citigroup (C) saw Bitcoin reaching around $82,000, Standard Chartered saw Bitcoin’s price reaching $100,000, Bernstein set a prediction at $150,000, JPMorgan (JPM) at $170,000, and Fundstrat predicted $200,000 to $250,000 in 2025. 

None of the five banks' or research firms' balance sheets holds Bitcoin. Instead of Bitcoin positions, Citigroup, Standard Chartered, and JPMorgan have custody services, trading desks, and blockchain infrastructure. 

Bitcoin price has been down over 27% year-to-date, trading at $64,062. In the last 24 hours, the apex cryptocurrency has been down 0.2%. On Stocktwits, retail sentiment around BTC remained in the ‘neutral’ zone, while chatter shifted to ‘low’ from the ‘normal’ levels over the past day. 

Strategy's Widening Discount As Proof

Strategy’s common stock MSTR dropped 1.7% for the week, while Bitcoin rose around 3%, reducing the stock’s trading discount to its Bitcoin holdings to almost 40%, he said. “The gap means Strategy can’t sell more common stock to fund more Bitcoin purchases,” Schiff said.

Schiff also pointed out Strategy’s preferred shares (STRC), which ended the week at $87.48 for a 13.7% yield. The high yield indicates that investors don’t expect Bitcoin to maintain enough of a gain to cover the stock’s dividend, he said. “They expect it to be cut,” Schiff said of the STRC dividend.

Schiff also said that Bitcoin has decoupled from gold and tech stocks on the way up, but said the asset would fall in tandem with tech stocks in a broader downturn.

Strategy's Bitcoin Sales Fuel Schiff's Skepticism

Schiff, who is CEO and Chief Global Strategist of Euro Pacific Capital, has been one of Strategy’s biggest naysayers. His comments have intensified after Michael Saylor, Strategy’s executive chairman, revealed that the company sold Bitcoin. Saylor has been a long-time proponent of the asset and had previously asked his followers to ‘never sell Bitcoin,’ but the company sold around $230.3 million in total. Last month, Strategy also announced that it could sell more Bitcoin to pay for dividends on STRC and use it to replenish its cash reserve or fund buybacks. 

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