Billionaire Investor and Analyst Debate Bitcoin's Role as Inflation Hedge

According to U.Today, a live debate on YouTube, organized by ZeroHedge, saw billionaire investor Anthony Scaramucci of SkyBridge Capital and top analyst Peter Schiff discuss the role of Bitcoin (BTC) and gold as inflation hedges. They were joined by Erik Voorhees, CEO of ShapeSchift, and Nouriel Roubini, a professor of economics at NYU. Peter Schiff, a critic of Bitcoin, initiated the debate by arguing that Bitcoin, originally created as a digital currency, fails to function effectively due to its slow and expensive nature. Schiff believes that Bitcoin proponents are trying to reposition it as a digital version of gold, but it falls short of gold's intrinsic value derived from its physical properties. He emphasized gold's tangible utility in industries like jewelry and electronics, contrasting it with Bitcoin, which he believes lacks practical uses and utility. Schiff asserted that gold retains its intrinsic properties over time, serving as a genuine store of value. He also argued that the perceived value of Bitcoin is merely based on speculative demand and does not reflect any inherent usefulness or practical applications. In response, Scaramucci countered Schiff's argument by highlighting that only 5% of gold's value is derived from manufacturing purposes, with the majority attributed to its acceptance as a store of value. He emphasized that Bitcoin, like gold, has a deflationary aspect due to its fixed supply. Scaramucci views Bitcoin as 'digital gold,' noting its portability compared to physical gold. He also pointed out that Bitcoin is following an adoption curve that will impact its value over decades, likening it to the trajectory of tech stocks that became standard over time and contributed to the S&P 500 index. In other news, cryptocurrencies rebounded on Friday, driven by a rise in Bitcoin's (BTC) price, raising optimism that the recent drawdown may be subsiding. BTC climbed nearly 5%, briefly surpassing $63,000. This surge followed a cooler-than-expected U.S. April jobs report, which alleviated concerns about potential increases in interest rates.