On March 12, 2026, Ray Dalio argued Bitcoin cannot supplant gold, citing central bank demand and gold’s mature, time-tested market. He said BTC behaves more like a high-risk asset than a stable hedge.
Gold advocate Peter Schiff called Bitcoin a 'waste of energy' in a Dec. 28 social post, rejecting the idea that BTC acts as a non-inflationary ledger for storing economic energy.
Blockstream co‑founder Adam Back said on November 13 that Bitcoin (BTC) should be understood as permissionless bearer money — value you control directly without intermediaries. His framing seeks to settle parts of the long-running debate over whether BTC is money, digital gold, or something else.