Gold bug and longtime Bitcoin skeptic Peter Schiff is back with another jab at MicroStrategy founder Michael Saylor, as Bitcoin tumbled below the critical $80,000 level amid widespread market panic triggered by President Trump’s sweeping new tariffs.
On April 7, Schiff posted directly to Saylor on X, formerly Twitter, saying:
“Attention Saylor, now that Bitcoin is below $80K, if you want to prevent it from crashing below your average cost of $68K, you had better back up the truck with borrowed money today and go all in.”
The message came as Bitcoin posted its worst first quarter in 10 years, falling 11.7% in Q1 — a drawdown that has reignited fears of a potential market cycle top. At press time, BTC was trading at $79,322.74, down 4.6% in 24 hours.
Just a week earlier, Michael Saylor’s Strategy (formerly MicroStrategy) had announced the purchase of 22,048 BTC for $1.92 billion, at an average price of $86,969 per coin. That buy lifted the company’s total holdings to 528,185 BTC, acquired at an average cost of $67,458 — and now worth approximately $35.63 billion.
The backdrop to Bitcoin’s decline is the market-wide chaos triggered by President Donald Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariffs, unveiled on April 2. The U.S. imposed a blanket 10% tariff on all imports, with specific penalties for key partners: 34% on China, 26% on India, 24% on Japan, and 20% on the EU. The move sparked swift retaliation from China, prompting what some analysts fear could be the start of a prolonged trade war.
That fear sent markets into a tailspin. U.S. equities saw a combined $5.4 trillion wiped out in just two days. Schiff, never one to miss a chance to call out Bitcoin’s volatility, questioned the asset’s “safe haven” narrative in a follow-up post:
“But Bitcoin was sold as a safe haven/store of value. If during market selloffs it crashes more than other assets, what value does it offer investors?” Schiff added.
