Ponzi Schemes and Kidney Sales: A Tale of Bitcoin Woes

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Pray, allow me to present a most diverting spectacle of modern finance, wherein Messrs. Schiff and Saylor engage in a battle of wits, each armed with their own peculiar brand of economic philosophy. Mr. Peter Schiff, that steadfast advocate of gold, has once again taken up his quill to chastise Mr. Michael Saylor, the intrepid champion of Bitcoin, for what he perceives as a most egregious backtracking on the matter of selling Bitcoin to cover payments.

Mr. Schiff, with his customary acerbity, declares that Mr. Saylor’s revised statement is as flimsy as a debutante’s resolve at a ball, relying as it does on the fanciful notion of consistently selling Bitcoin at ever-increasing prices. The origin of this dispute, dear reader, lies in Mr. Saylor’s initial confession during Strategy’s Q1 2026 earnings call, wherein he admitted the possibility of selling Bitcoin to fund the STRC dividend-a revelation that sent shockwaves through the crypto sphere.

In a series of posts on the platform X, Mr. Schiff has accused Mr. Saylor of retreating from this admission with all the subtlety of a carriage careening down a muddy lane. He labels the entire STRC structure a “classic centralized Ponzi run by MSTR,” a charge Mr. Saylor dismisses with a wave of his hand, declaring, “Peter thinks Bitcoin’s a Ponzi scheme. Peter is not really a lover of anything in this space.” To which Mr. Schiff retorts, with a flourish of his rhetorical sword, “But I’ve called Bitcoin a new variant of decentralized Ponzi. STRC is different!”

The Spark That Ignited This Tete-a-Tete

This latest exchange began during Strategy’s earnings call in May, when Mr. Saylor startled the assembled investors by suggesting the company “may sell some Bitcoin” to fund the STRC dividend. This, from a man who once advised the public to “sell a kidney if you must, but keep the Bitcoin,” was a volte-face of such magnitude that it left the crypto world agog.

Mr. Schiff, ever vigilant, pounced upon this admission with the alacrity of a cat spotting a mouse. He declared that such a commitment was “needed to keep the Ponzi going longer,” and predicted with grim satisfaction that Mr. Saylor would “suspend the dividend and crash STRC rather than crash Bitcoin.” Yet, in a twist worthy of a novel by Mrs. Radcliffe, Mr. Saylor attempted to retract his statement over the weekend, clarifying that Strategy would “never be a net seller of Bitcoin,” and admitting the original line “just wouldn’t have been so viral or so catchy.”

The Enduring Feud: A Match Made in Financial Heaven

The rivalry between Messrs. Schiff and Saylor is a saga of such longevity that it might rival the greatest romances of our time. Mr. Schiff, chairman of SchiffGold and chief economist at Euro Pacific Capital, has built his reputation upon his opposition to Bitcoin, while Mr. Saylor, having pivoted Strategy’s treasury into BTC in August 2020, stands as the largest corporate Bitcoin holder in the world. Their debates have ranged from podcasts to multi-day threads on X, with Mr. Schiff likening Bitcoin to Dutch tulip mania and Mr. Saylor defending it with the fervor of a true believer.

The launch of STRC in July 2025 added a new layer of complexity to their feud. Mr. Schiff argues that the 11.5% dividend on STRC is unsustainable, funded not by Strategy’s software business but by the issuance of more shares, a scheme he dubs “the largest Ponzi in the world.” In a live X Space, he spent two hours dissecting his case, declaring, “the yield is paid by selling more shares, and then you get money from new investors to pay old investors.”

Meanwhile, Strategy continues its relentless acquisition of Bitcoin, recently purchasing 535 BTC for $43 million, bringing its total holdings to 818,869 BTC. With Bitcoin trading above $81,000, the company’s BTC stash is once again in profit territory. Yet, Mr. Schiff’s criticisms persist, and with Mr. Saylor now engaging directly, this feud shows no signs of abating. Will Strategy’s dividend obligations withstand a prolonged Bitcoin downturn? Only time, dear reader, will tell.

And so, we leave you with this amusing spectacle of financial wit and folly, a reminder that in the world of crypto, as in the ballrooms of Regency England, appearances can be deceiving, and the truth is often a matter of perspective.

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2026-05-11 16:53