The start of the second quarter of 2024 has not been favorable for Bitcoin (BTC) bulls, as the world's largest cryptocurrency by market cap has seen a 10% decline since its mid-March record high of $73,700. This translates to a 7% decline in Q2, with Bitcoin barely holding the $66,000 resistance level at press time.
Peter Schiff, a well-known Bitcoin opponent and financial commentator, took the opportunity to criticize the limited performance of cryptocurrency assets while praising the performance of gold and silver.
So far in Q2 2024, here are the results: Silver is up 8.7%, gold is up 3.4%, and Bitcoin is down 7%.
Recent strong inflation data has unsettled interest rate traders, as the odds of the Federal Reserve cutting interest rates in June have diminished. This has led to poor market performance not only for Bitcoin but also for major indices such as the S&P 500, Dow Jones and Nasdaq, with the Dow Jones down 1.34% on the weekly front.
Interestingly, as Schiff noted, silver and gold saw impressive gains amid macro headwinds. Schiff even encouraged his followers to take advantage of Bitcoin's decline and invest in gold and silver, saying:
Attention Bitcoin HODLers. This may be your last chance to sell your #Bitcoin and buy some gold and silver at affordable prices.
However, some users took issue with Schiff's statements, with one user noting,
LOL, 3 days into the quarter, let's finally check back.
Schiff responded confidently, noting that Bitcoin would be worse off than gold and silver, even at the end of the second quarter.
It's important to note that macro headwinds play a big role in gold's rally, as pointed out by another user, who stated,
The fact that bonds are being sold off aggressively while gold just rose 15% tells you everything you need to know about the macro economy right now.
While it may be too early to dismiss BTC's performance as dismal, continued macro headwinds throughout the second quarter could also impact the cryptocurrency's bullish potential.
