Bitcoin Derangement Syndrome: Have you been exposed? | Columnists

The following, authored by Guy Malone, was originally published Feb. 27 on the Bitcoin News Inc. website and is reprinted by permission for Daily Record readers in two parts; the work has been modified for print readers, as the original version contained embedded video and graphics.

Last week, we examined the claims of “eternal goldbug” Peter Schiff, who makes sport out of criticizing bitcoin at every opportunity while promoting gold as the superior savings asset. Schiff started the company Schiff Gold in 2010, originally named Euro Pacific Precious Metals, perhaps unaware that bitcoin had just entered the scene in 2009.

Joining Schiff in our “Decade of Bad Bitcoin Takes” club, beside The New York Times’ Paul Krugman, author of the column “Bitcoin Is Evil” published in 2013, also discussed last week, we now turn to radio host Dave Ramsey, also known as author of the best-selling, “Financial Peace.”

Ramsey’s affiliated call-in program fields questions about debt and investing. The host proudly posts his past bitcoin replies and rants as a YouTube playlist, documenting that he has publicly mocked bitcoin on air for at least 10 years, according to the channel’s archive. 

In his videos, Ramsey routinely uses words like “Bit Con,” “scam” and “stupid” when referencing, i.e., mocking, bitcoin investing and investors.

In videos, he frequently compares bitcoin to the failed Iraqi dinar, and is on record as recently as November 2023 — despite all charted evidence to the contrary — saying that, “Bitcoin is a really good way to turn a million dollars into nothing.”

On one 2023 video, he grossly misinformed potential bitcoin savers and investors about how bitcoin allegedly works, creating “FUD” (fear, uncertainty and doubt) in the mindset of his listeners about how bitcoin operates. Referring to the bitcoin network, Ramsey erroneously claimed, “All of a sudden, one of these computer nerds just flips the switch, the whole freaking thing’s gone!”

Investigation of this either deceptive or ignorant scare-tactic claim leads to Cathie Wood, founder, chief executive officer (CEO), and chief investment officer (CIO) of ARK Invest portfolio management, who published findings of the firm’s January 2024 study, stating, “Bitcoin is backed by the largest computer network in the world, a network orders of magnitude larger than the combined size of the clouds that Amazon, Google, and Microsoft have built over the last 15-20 years.”

Being wrong is forgivable; feigning knowledge in a field, then being repeatedly wrong is not.

Addressing bitcoiners directly, the clip ends with Ramsey saying, “You’re stupid. You’re gonna lose your money. Be pissed at me. You shouldn’t have put your money into something whacko … .“

Bitcoin was trading at $37,500 the day of that video. Those that ignored Ramsey did not, in fact, “lose their money.”

Perhaps due to his real estate holdings, just like with gold, and the competition bitcoin brings to that investment class, Ramsey consistently displays a willful ignorance towards any factual research-based looks into bitcoin.

In his own words, quoted below, Ramsey confessed to being “sadly ignorant” about the bitcoin world, and he has apparently chosen to stay that way, at least publicly.

His own employee first reached out to Ramsey, offering some insight into bitcoin in April 2013, during which bitcoin’s price was still fluctuating often under $100.

Eventually, the then-former employee, Luke Stokes, published an “open letter” (available to search online) offering Ramsey some corrective insight on bitcoin again in 2015 — assuming he ever wanted to “fix ignorant,” that is.

Speaking of willfully ignorant

For those that missed last week’s part one of this column, Schiff humorously baits bitcoiners with social media posts; in response to a recent bitcoin price dip, he posted on the morning of Feb. 25,

“I love the sound of a Bitcoin crash in the morning.”

X user “Bitcoin’ers” responded, “Funny, he hears the crash but misses the recovery every single time. Decades later, still rooting against the inevitable.” Carl B Menger replied, “Bruh, Bitcoin could nuke another 95% and still flex on Gold’s 10-year performance. …”

However, apparently Schiff’s son, Spencer, according to Peter Schiff in a March 2021 post, “went all in on bitcoin.” And now his wife as well, as confirmed by Schiff’s own humorous self-disclosure. Just weeks ago, one social post respondent joked that Schiff’s wife buys bitcoin behind his back, to which he replied, “Actually she did. No one is perfect.”

X user “Clara Bitcoin” joined in the online attack by sticking to the facts, quoting an online claim that Schiff had been publicly wrong about bitcoin since June 20, 2011, when bitcoin was selling for $17.25. This was Schiff’s first radio or podcast appearance discussing bitcoin and where he first offered his now favorite “go-to” response, that bitcoin allegedly “has no intrinsic value,” first claimed publicly by him during an interview with YouTube channel “Cre8Urself.”

This claim was also addressed head-on in an apparently impromptu live debate with “Coin Stories” host Natalie Brunell, moderated — and, being honest, pretty much “assisted” — by Fox News’ Charles Payne and televised live in 2024.

Schiff again stated publicly during the debate, “Nobody’s using bitcoin to buy anything; it’s just a speculative asset.”

Brunell countered, “I’ve paid for coffee with bitcoin, Peter. I’ve used it for transactions — it’s not just speculation. Your argument ignores how people are actually adopting it.”

Brunell continued, “Gold’s great, but it’s not moving value across borders in seconds like bitcoin does. You’re stuck in the past.”

This exact sentiment was also expressed by podcaster Anthony “Pomp” Pompliano in a televised debate with Schiff. Appearing together on CNBC Africa five years ago, Pomp sharply delivered, “Peter, you’ve been wrong about bitcoin for over a decade. It’s not a meme — it’s a $1.5 trillion asset class with institutional backing. You’re clinging to gold like it’s 1890, while the world moves forward.”

Schiff claimed in 2018 that bitcoin was not a bargain, even during a “crash” which took the asset to $3,800. Schiff incorrectly, price-action shows, boasted in 2018 that even if the price fell to $750, bitcoin “would still be expensive!”

Fool’s Gold Me Twice, Shame on Me 

It’s become increasingly difficult to give the benefit of doubt to personalities like Schiff, Krugman and Ramsey today.

These men continue to use their influence and expertise — rightfully earned in other fields — to propose completely unintelligent and unconvincing arguments against bitcoin’s relevance and continuing worldwide adoption.

According to Wikipedia, “Belief perseverance … is maintaining a belief despite new information that firmly contradicts it.” Schiff, Krugman and Ramsey are either willfully deceptive in their continuing public assessments of bitcoin for unknown reasons or are peak case studies in this phenomenon.

If you’ve come into contact with any of these men, you’ve likely been exposed.

Ask your doctor if facts are right for you.

Guy Malone, a certified bitcoin professional, holds three certifications in digital currencies and has written and edited for publications such as Bitcoin Magazine and Bitcoin News. Reader input for future columns is welcome. Contact Malone via copyedit@rdrnews.com and/or @RichNFrenz on X. The views expressed in this column are those of the author.