Peter Schiff’s Bitcoin Comment at CZ Debate Is Logically Flawed

Peter Schiff engaged in a debate with CZ at Binance Blockchain Week after challenging Bitcoin’s legitimacy as a generator of real economic value. 

Speaking on stage opposite Changpeng Zhao (CZ), Schiff argued that Bitcoin is a zero-sum wealth transfer rather than a productive asset.

Here is Schiff’s full statement as delivered during the debate:

“All Bitcoin does is enable a transfer of wealth from people who buy BTC to the people who sell it. When Bitcoin is created, there’s no real wealth. We have about 20 million Bitcoin now that we didn’t have 15 years ago. But we’re no better off because that BTC exists. They don’t actually do anything. But what has happened is that some people have been enriched at the expense of other people. Now, the people who have lost a lot of money in Bitcoin don’t even realize they lost it yet, because they still have the BTC, and the token still has a $90-$92,000 price, or whatever the price point is in the current market. So, they don’t realize they have lost the money. But if they try to get out, that’s when they’re gonna realize it’s lost.”

“Bitcoin Enables Transfer of Wealth From Buyers to Sellers”

This is true to the extent that any freely traded asset, such as equities, gold, land, fine art, also transfers wealth between participants depending on entry price, exit price, and market conditions.

But Schiff implies that this transfer is zero-sum. That’s inaccurate. Bitcoin’s network itself generates utility, which is distinct from price. 

Bitcoin today powers cross-border settlement, functions as a censorship-resistant store of value, and serves as collateral across financial platforms.

Value is generated through capability, not just material form. A global network that moves capital instantly without banks or intermediaries is a new economic function. That is wealth creation by definition.

If Bitcoin merely redistributed value, it would not underpin payment channels, custody platforms, or multi-billion-dollar remittance rails. 

A zero-sum asset does not attract corporate treasuries, institutional ETFs, or nation-state adoption.

“No Real Wealth Was Created by the Addition of 20 Million Bitcoin”

Wealth does not rely on physical substance. It relies on demand, utility, consensus, and the ability to preserve or transfer value.

Schiff’s logic could be applied historically to:

• Government-issued fiat (created by declaration, yet accepted globally).
• Internet domain names (non-physical, yet multi-million-dollar assets).
• Software and cloud infrastructure (intangible, yet critical to global GDP).

By that standard, software, internet DNS space, AI models, and even fiat money would also fail to qualify as wealth. Yet these intangible systems power most of today’s economy.Bitcoin created something that did not exist in monetary history: a bearer asset that moves like data, settles without intermediaries, and is mathematically verifiable. 

That feature is comparable to gold digitization but without storage, transport, or assay friction.

Wealth was created because new capabilities emerged.

“People Only Don’t Know They Lost Money Because Price is Still High”

This rests on the assumption that Bitcoin will collapse. It could — but it is not a fact, it is a projection.

If Bitcoin remains in demand globally, scarcity and network growth sustain value. 

If adoption grows further — as has occurred across ETFs, corporate treasuries, and sovereign custody — then Schiff’s prediction weakens.

His view equates unrealized gains with illusions. But:

• If someone holds Bitcoin for 10 years and later sells at a higher price, wealth is realized.
• If Bitcoin becomes widely transacted and integrated into the monetary infrastructure, the asset functions beyond speculation.

His thesis only holds if Bitcoin fails as a monetary network. And more than a decade of growth suggests the opposite direction.

Conclusion

Peter Schiff’s comments captured headlines and sparked discussion, but his reasoning overlooks key economic realities. 

Bitcoin is not merely a wealth transfer. It is a functioning global monetary network with attributes that no traditional asset class replicates. 

The argument that it “creates no wealth” relies on outdated assumptions about where value originates.