Renowned economist Peter Schiff says BlackRock CEO Larry Fink “may be lying” about his apparent shift toward supporting Bitcoin, arguing that Fink’s recent apologies for dismissing crypto are driven by business incentives rather than genuine conviction.
Schiff also made clear that his own stance on Bitcoin has not changed at all, despite its broader adoption by public companies, asset managers and even sovereign entities.
Speaking at **The New York Times DealBook Summit88 on Wednesday, Fink said that his views on crypto have shifted and that he “may have been wrong” tying crypto to illicit finance, BlackRock now runs the world’s largest spot Bitcoin ETF IBIT.
He had earlier called Bitcoin an “asset of fear,” highly volatile and suitable for those confident in timing and not for everyone.
Speaking in an interview with Yellow.com on the sidelines of Binance blockchain week, Schiff rejected the idea that Bitcoin’s growing institutional presence has modified his long-held view that the asset has no intrinsic value.
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“My definition is exactly the same,” he said. “Just because some companies decided to gamble with Bitcoin and buy it doesn’t change the nature of what it is.”
He questioned whether Fink’s turnaround reflects any real change in belief. “I don’t even know that Larry Fink has actually changed his mind. He just may be lying,” Schiff said.
He argued that firms like BlackRock “make a lot of money off of Bitcoin,” and therefore have “a vested interest in perpetuating the mania” as long as possible.
Schiff tied this dynamic to political incentives as well. As he described it, politicians now see Bitcoin-linked campaign donations and growing numbers of Bitcoin-holding voters as reasons to appear supportive.
“A lot of Bitcoiners are kind of single-issue voters,” he said, suggesting political endorsements of Bitcoin operate like “welfare for Bitcoiners,” aimed at driving up the value of assets supporters already own.
Despite Bitcoin’s repeated survival through multiple market cycles, Schiff maintained that supporters misunderstand monetary history and mistake price action for validation.
He reiterated that Bitcoin is “a fake asset” supported by expectations of future buyers rather than underlying utility. “It thrives on ignorance and greed,” he said.
Schiff further said that inflationary pressures and fiscal strain strengthen the case only for traditional hard assets, not Bitcoin.
He argued that while macro fears may push investors toward Bitcoin temporarily, “eventually Bitcoin is going to collapse” because “you don’t need Bitcoin for anything.”
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