Schiff Calls Saylor's STRC a Ponzi as BTC Holds Near $82K

Peter Schiff, chief economist at Euro Pacific Asset Management and one of Bitcoin's loudest perennial critics, told Cointelegraph on May 13 that Michael Saylor's STRC operation is essentially a Ponzi scheme — even with BTC trading near $82,000.

Schiff's argument is mechanical, not rhetorical. Legitimate finance repays debt out of earnings, he said; if Saylor refuses to sell Bitcoin, he can only service STRC's 11.5% obligations by raising fresh capital from new investors. That makes the structure dependent on a continuous inflow of buyers willing to fund the carry on existing holders.

Why it matters

Schiff framed two symmetric downside paths. If Saylor sells BTC to cover the interest, the size of the position guarantees a market crash on the way out. If he holds and is forced to liquidate in a downturn to repay debt, holders take the principal loss. Either direction, Schiff argued, ends with the same outcome — STRC implodes. The critique lands hardest on a Strategy (formerly MicroStrategy) shareholder base that has so far been rewarded for the same leverage that Schiff is now calling structurally broken.

Market impact

The comments did not move spot BTC at the open, but they sharpen the bear-case narrative around leveraged BTC carry heading into a macro environment where the cost of capital is no longer free. Watch for any signs of a credit-spread blowout in STRC — a widening there would be the first hard evidence that Schiff's mechanical argument is more than commentary.

Source: [Peter Schiff on Strategy Selling BTC: “This Whole Thing Is Going to Implode” — YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CsWrBHfFEiY)