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Peter Schiff Calls Dogecoin, Other Memecoins a 'Litmus Test' for Popularity, but Questions Future Demand: 'People Might Want to Wear It on Their Back'
Economist Peter Schiff said Ethereum (CRYPTO: ETH), unlike Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC), has “some value,” although that value is lower than its current price implies.
Schiff Finds ETH Better than Bitcoin
During a phone interview with Benzinga, Schiff noted that Ethereum “obviously has the use case” and lets users earn yields through staking.
Staking is the process of depositing and locking up ETH to run a validator node. Validators earn rewards consisting of new ETH issuance and a share of transaction fees.
As of this writing, around 44.7 million ETH was staked in the network, representing more than 36% of the asset’s circulating supply, according to Staking Rewards. The annualized average yield rate was 2.56%.
“I don’t know how much of its [Ethereum’s] value is really a function of the returns that you generate by owning it,” Schiff said. “My guess would be it’s much lower than the current market price would imply.”
See Also: Bitcoin Flat As Fed Policy Meet Looms; Ethereum, Dogecoin, XRP Decline: Analyst Flags Support Where They Plan To ‘Load Heavily’ On ETH
What does Schiff Think of Memecoins?
Schiff said memecoins like Dogecoin (CRYPTO: DOGE) don’t represent any value, adding that people “may not be willing to buy them” at all in the future.
“It’s just a litmus test of popularity,” he argued. “I mean something is popular right now. People are talking about it, and so people might want to wear it on their back as a vote.”
Schiff’s Bitcoin Skepticism Continues
Schiff is a long-standing Bitcoin critic and leads the pack in Bitcoin obituaries, having declared the cryptocurrency ‘dead’ as many as 26 times.
He aggressively promotes gold as the ultimate safe-haven, while deriding Bitcoin as a worthless asset.
Price Action: As of this writing, ETH is up 7% in the last 24 hours to $2,427.07, according to Benzinga Pro.
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Photo Courtesy: Peter Schiff