Peter Schiff’s Bitcoin Critique Meets Reality: Industrial Silver Miners’ Profit Boom Highlights Digital Gold’s Yield-Free Nature

Gold bug Peter Schiff just fired another shot across Bitcoin's bow—but this time, he's aiming with industrial silver miners' profit reports as ammunition.

Yield vs. Speculation: The Eternal Debate

Schiff's argument cuts straight to Bitcoin's core philosophical divide. The digital asset doesn't pay dividends, issue coupons, or generate cash flow. Its value proposition bypasses traditional yield metrics entirely, resting instead on network adoption, scarcity, and its role as a hedge against monetary debasement. Meanwhile, industrial silver miners are posting record profits—actual earnings from digging metal out of the ground for use in solar panels, electronics, and manufacturing.

The Productivity Paradox

It's a classic clash of narratives: productive assets versus speculative stores of value. One side points to income statements and P/E ratios; the other points to hash rates, adoption curves, and the digitization of everything. Silver has an industrial use case that creates tangible demand. Bitcoin creates its own demand through cryptographic certainty and a monetary policy harder than any central bank's—a feature, not a bug, for its proponents.

A Cynical Finance Jab

Of course, Wall Street has made fortunes for decades selling yield-free products wrapped in complexity—so maybe Bitcoin's just cutting out the middleman.

The bottom line? Schiff's comparison isn't wrong—it's just irrelevant to anyone who already believes the financial system itself is the risk worth hedging against. The debate isn't about yield; it's about which future you're betting on.

TLDR

• Peter Schiff argues that silver miners are poised for a major earnings surge in 2026.
• Schiff highlights Bitcoin’s lack of yield or productive output as a major downside for investors.
• Michael Saylor’s company, Strategy, faces poor returns on its Bitcoin holdings, according to Schiff.
• Schiff criticizes Bitcoin’s reliance on speculation, comparing it to tangible assets like silver miners.

Peter Schiff, the chief economist at Euro Pacific Capital, has once again criticized Bitcoin, highlighting its lack of earnings potential. In contrast, he points to industrial silver miners as poised for a massive profit surge in 2026. Schiff’s critique draws attention to Bitcoin’s speculative nature, emphasizing that it produces no cash flow or yield, unlike productive assets like silver mining companies, which could see significant revenue growth in the NEAR future.

Schiff Highlights the Earnings Potential of Silver Miners

Peter Schiff, the chief economist at Euro Pacific Capital, has been a long-time critic of Bitcoin, and in a recent statement, he compared the asset’s lack of earnings potential to the upcoming revenue surge in industrial silver mining.

Schiff, a well-known Gold proponent, emphasized that mining companies focused on silver could see massive earnings growth in 2026. He pointed out that the valuations of these companies do not yet reflect the anticipated profits, positioning them for significant upside. Schiff believes that silver mining will outpace many other sectors in terms of profitability, particularly when the market responds to rising demand and prices in the coming years.

Yes. Silver prices have risen dramatically despite the two days of huge volatility. Those companies earnings will explode in 2026 and their current share prices don't reflect that. Bitcoin has no earnings.

— Peter Schiff (@PeterSchiff) December 30, 2025

The mining sector, according to Schiff, is not only producing a physical commodity but also generating real-world cash flows, unlike Bitcoin, which does not produce earnings or dividends.

Schiff’s argument contrasts with Bitcoin’s speculative nature, which has no inherent ability to generate revenue. For Schiff, the industrial silver miners offer a tangible investment opportunity, one that contrasts with the speculative and volatile nature of digital assets like Bitcoin.

The ‘Zero Yield’ Argument Against Bitcoin

Schiff’s critique of bitcoin primarily revolves around its “zero-yield” nature. The economist argues that Bitcoin, unlike stocks or bonds, does not generate any cash flow. A share of a company like Apple represents a claim on the company’s future earnings, giving it intrinsic value based on its ability to generate profits.

Bitcoin, on the other hand, has no such earnings or intrinsic value. It is merely a claim on the Bitcoin network’s ledger, which Schiff categorizes as a speculative investment with no productive output.

Schiff’s argument aligns with the views of other traditional finance critics, such as Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger, who have long dismissed Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies as speculative assets.

Both Buffett and Munger have argued that investments should produce something tangible, like dividends or interest, to have value. Schiff echoes this sentiment, stating that Bitcoin’s reliance on the “Greater Fool Theory” – where profits are derived by selling the asset to someone else at a higher price – makes it more akin to gambling than investing.

Schiff Critiques Michael Saylor’s Bitcoin Strategy

In addition to his criticism of Bitcoin itself, Peter Schiff has also targeted Michael Saylor’s investment strategy through his company, MicroStrategy. MicroStrategy, under Saylor’s leadership, has aggressively accumulated Bitcoin, with an average cost per Bitcoin of around $75,000.

Schiff argues that this strategy has been detrimental to the company’s financial performance, pointing out that the paper profits on MicroStrategy’s Bitcoin holdings are minimal, around 16%. Schiff also calculates that over five years, the company has generated an annual return of just 3% on its Bitcoin investment.

This return, Schiff argues, is not competitive with other asset classes. He claims that Saylor’s decision to heavily invest in Bitcoin has cost the company valuable returns that could have been achieved through other investments. Schiff’s critique of Saylor’s strategy highlights the risks of investing heavily in a speculative asset like Bitcoin, especially when its price can fluctuate dramatically, often leading to poor long-term results for institutional investors.

Schiff’s Call for Caution in Bitcoin Investments

Peter Schiff continues to advocate for caution in Bitcoin investments, arguing that its speculative nature does not provide long-term value. He maintains that investors should be wary of digital assets that offer no earnings or productive output, such as Bitcoin.

Instead, Schiff points to assets like silver mining companies, which generate real cash flow, as a more secure investment choice. While Bitcoin remains a popular and volatile investment for many, Schiff’s perspective underscores the risks associated with speculative assets and the importance of evaluating investments based on their earnings potential.