In a live debate on Fox Business moderated by Liz Claman, perennial Bitcoin critic Peter Schiff made a surprising concession: Bitcoin is not going to zero. The admission came after investor Anthony Pompliano, CEO of Professional Capital Management, challenged Schiff to a bet on whether BTC would still exist in a decade. “It’s an easy bet. If you think it’s going to disappear, let’s do it,” Pompliano said, prompting Schiff to respond, “It is not going to go to zero.” Pompliano later highlighted the moment on X, calling it a public victory.
Despite the concession, Schiff stuck to his bearish stance, labeling Bitcoin a “digital nothing” and a pyramid scheme. He argued that early holders are cashing out amid demand fueled by ETFs and Bitcoin treasury companies like Strategy (formerly MicroStrategy), claiming the asset has “no real long-term” value and has barely moved in five years. He contrasted this with gold, which he sees as a physical asset in a bull market.
Pompliano countered by pointing to Bitcoin’s 10-year compound annual growth rate of around 55–60%, far outpacing gold’s ~12%. He also defended volatility as a characteristic of high-performing assets, not a flaw. The debate touched on Strategy’s recent small BTC sale and subsequent $100M buy on June 15 that brought its holdings to 846,842 BTC, with Schiff claiming the firm’s model is destroying shareholder value. Both men found some agreement on political motivations behind crypto support, with Schiff calling government involvement a “serious problem.” Bitcoin was trading at $66,150, down 0.96% on the day, while the all-time high of $126,000 from October 2025 remains a distant memory.
