Bitcoin proponents discarded fresh criticism from gold bug Peter Schiff this week after he suggested the cryptocurrency was losing popularity despite its price rise.

Schiff: Bitcoin Volume ‘Much Lower’ Than 2017

As a Twitter discussion which began July 29 revealed, Schiff, who is well known as a cryptocurrency skeptic, claimed Bitcoin’s 2019 bull run produced lower volumes than the previous one in December 2017. 

“If Bitcoin really is gaining in popularity, why was volume on the most recent rally so much lower than during the 2017 rally?” he wrote. 

“If interest and adoption have peaked, so too has price. That’s why this rally peaked so far below the 2017 high, and why the 2019 low will not hold!”

If Bitcoin really is gaining in popularity, why was volume on the most recent rally so much lower than during the 2017 rally? If interest and adoption have peaked, so too has price. That’s why this rally peaked so far below the 2017 high, and why the 2019 low will not hold!

— Peter Schiff (@PeterSchiff) July 28, 2019

Schiff’s suspicions quickly raised eyebrows among commentators. As Bitcoinist reported, the past weeks have in fact seen daily Bitcoin network volumes hit repeated all-time highs. 

Financial counsellor Phillip Kennedy was the first to counter the accusations, linking to volume statistics from monitoring resource CoinMarketCap. July volumes, he noted, were 300% higher than those of December 2017. 

Schiff then countered with data from Blockchain.com, which provides limited volume calculations presenting a much lower daily level.

Another user noted that calculations would become increasingly difficult as more transaction activity moved off-chain to arenas such as the Lightning Network. 

Woo Predicts 2020 BTC Turnaround

“This is true also,” statistics compiler and commentator Willy Woo responded. 

He said that the 2019 Bitcoin price rally was driven by institutional moves and was therefore not designed to endure, something which will change in future.  

“…Mainly it was a cascade of short squeezes from quant fund activity that setup (sic) this rally. Long term investor buying during the rally has been small ticket retail money; the true organically fueled (sic) bull season hasn’t started yet,” he added.

Woo had previously forecast 2020 as sparking a more “sustainable bull drive” which would take markets much higher on the back of genuine consumer adoption. 

Schiff meanwhile has opted not to embrace Bitcoin despite the best efforts of existing users. As Bitcoinist noted, last month, a Twitter initiative saw 112 people donate BTC to Schiff in a bid to make him change his mind.

Schiff said he would ‘HODL’ the funds, which total 0.21 BTC, but now appears to have stayed firmly bearish about Bitcoin’s future.

“For me price is not the issue,” he said responding to Kennedy. 

“The price going up does not make me wrong. It’s just means more buyers are getting it wrong.”

What do you think about Peter Schiff and Willy Woo’s comments? Let us know in the section below!

Images via Twitter @Peterschiff, Shutterstock

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