Michael Saylor denies Peter Schiff’s allegations of pumping Bitcoin

Peter Schiff, popular for his critical comments about the cryptocurrency market, has said that the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) needs to investigate Michael Saylor. Schiff accused the MicroStrategy Executive Chairman of pumping crypto prices.

Peter Schiff accuses Michael Saylor of pumping crypto

The US SEC imposed a $1.26 million penalty against Kim Kardashian for promoting crypto security. The fine charged against the reality star has expressed the commitment of the SEC to crack down on the cryptocurrency market.

Many in the crypto community have expressed their disbelief over the hefty fine imposed against Kim Kardashian. However, Peter Schiff, the CEO of Gold Fund, has an entirely different take on the matter, saying that the regulator should have targeted Saylor for pumping crypto prices.

The SEC accused Kardashian of promoting a scam dubbed EthereumMax (EMAX) after posting it on Instagram without disclosing that she was paid $250,000 to promote it.

According to Schiff, other people pumped cryptocurrencies more than the celebrity star. He even accused CNBC, saying it was paid a lot of money to advertise crypto companies and pump Bitcoin.

However, the crypto community jumped in to quickly defend Saylor against the accusations made by Schiff. Saylor is a Bitcoin maximalist, and he has always supported the world’s largest cryptocurrencies, having accumulated a lot of Bitcoin for MicroStrategy over the years.

It is not the first time that Schiff is making negative comments about the crypto space. In 2021, Schiff said that Saylor wanted to continue accumulating more Bitcoin, which “makes no sense.” He also added that Saylor only bought Bitcoin to prevent the asset from crashing and not for the benefit of investors and shareholders.

Saylor denies Schiff’s allegations

Schiff is known as a major supporter of gold. With Bitcoin threatening the dominance of gold as a store of value, Schiff has never missed a chance to attack the largest crypto and the entire cryptocurrency market.

Saylor was quick to dismiss the allegations made by Schiff about him pumping cryptocurrency prices. Saylor argued that Bitcoin was not a security, and instead, it was a commodity.

Schiff said,

Bitcoin is a commodity, not a security. Advocating a commodity is similar to promoting steel, aluminum, concrete, glass, or granite. The BTC network is an open protocol, offering utilitarian benefits similar to roads, rails, radio, telephone, television, internet, or English.

The SEC has raised concern over the majority of cryptocurrencies in the market being securities. However, the argument has been that Bitcoin is a commodity because it does not serve the same purpose as securities. Nevertheless, if Bitcoin were officially deemed a commodity, it would be regulated by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).

Related

• Michael Saylor Sued for Tax Fraud- Is This Bullish for Bitcoin
• Michael Saylor takes to Twitter to clarify everything about Bitcoin’s energy use
• Michael Saylor steps down as MicroStrategy CEO to serve as executive chair