Peter Schiff Labels Bitcoin (BTC) the Riskiest Asset, Despite Admitting He Would Have Invested Had He Anticipated the Bubble

Renowned economist and market commentator Peter Schiff labeled Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC), the world's largest cryptocurrency, as the riskiest asset on Tuesday.

What Happened: Schiff took to Twitter to voice his concerns about the leading digital asset.

“There is no riskier asset than Bitcoin (not counting the 20,000 altcoins),” Schiff wrote.

Schiff's observation implied that Bitcoin was nowhere near being a safe haven like gold, an asset he strongly advocates for. The observation also appeared to be in response to serial entrepreneur and Bitcoin advocate Alan Knitowski, who argued that the leading cryptocurrency would soon become “risk-off” and decoupled from the effects of fiat currencies such as the dollar.

The conversation started when Schiff brought up Japan's benchmark 10-year Treasury bond yield of 1.18%. He warned that sustained increases in yields might “wreak havoc” on global bonds and risk assets.

According to TradingView, Bitcoin's Sharpe ratio, a measure of risk-adjusted returns, was -1.11 at the time of this writing, suggesting that the expected return was lower than that of a risk-free investment, such as a Treasury yield.

Interestingly, gold, which is considered a risk-free investment, had a Sharpe ratio around similar levels at the time of this writing, at -1.07.

See Also: Ethereum Co-Founder Vitalik Buterin Offloads Nearly A Million In Memecoins To Benefit Charities — Dogecoin's Sister Coin NEIRO Plunged 3% After Sale

Schiff Has Expressed Skepticism Before: This isn't the first time Schiff has expressed skepticism about Bitcoin. He has previously warned about the speculative frenzy surrounding the cryptocurrency, asserting that it could lead to significant losses for investors.

In a previous interview with Kitco News, Schiff said that he doesn't “hate Bitcoin itself,” but was deeply concerned about the potential financial fallout from the speculative mania.

“I feel bad for the people that are going to get wiped out when this eventually ends. And it has to end badly because it's gotten so crazy,” Schiff said.

Despite his criticisms, Schiff once admitted that he would have invested in Bitcoin had he anticipated the size of the current “bubble.”