Renowned economist and financial commentator Peter Schiff has taken to X (formerly Twitter) to express skepticism about the sustainability of Grayscale’s Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) amid the Bitcoin price collapse. The flagship cryptocurrency is down almost 7% in the last 24 hours, falling below the $44,000 level.
Renowned economist and financial commentator Peter Schiff has taken to X (formerly Twitter) to express skepticism about the sustainability of Grayscale’s Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) amid the Bitcoin price collapse. The flagship cryptocurrency is down almost 7% in the last 24 hours, falling below the $44,000 level.
Schiff, a long-time critic of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, questioned how long GBTC could continue its heavy advertising spending as the net asset value (NAV) of its Bitcoin holdings is expected to decline sharply due to falling Bitcoin prices.
This comes at a time when competing Bitcoin ETFs are gaining popularity due to lower fees, raising concerns about a potential shareholder exodus.
Schiff’s victory lap
In a series of posts, Schiff appeared to take a victory lap, pointing to the orderly selloff in Bitcoin, Bitcoin ETFs, and related stocks.
He speculated about the possibility of more aggressive sales in the future. Schiff also criticized investors who speculated on the approval of spot Bitcoin ETFs. He believes they are now selling their positions.
Additionally, he highlighted the fact that spot Bitcoin ETFs need to settle Bitcoin for US dollars, a scenario that could pose problems given the past reliance on Tether for liquidity and price support.
Bitcoin spot ETFs make waves
The debut of spot Bitcoin ETFs in the US market was significant, with offerings from Bitwise Invest, Fidelity and BlackRock generating $625.8 million in net inflows.
However, Grayscale’s Bitcoin Trust saw outflows of $95 million. This discrepancy in performance raises questions about investor preferences and the sustainability of Grayscale’s high fee structure.
Reports suggest that Grayscale sent a substantial amount of Bitcoin to a Coinbase Prime deposit address, possibly indicating a shift of investors’ assets to other ETFs or regular selling activity.
