Peter Schiff reopened the Bitcoin-backing debate this weekend, arguing that the energy consumed by miners leaves nothing behind to support the asset.

Schiff answered Bitcoin maximalist Jeff Swanson, who had called the asset the future of money. Their exchange revived crypto’s oldest argument about what gives money value.

Peter Schiff Rejects the Bitcoin Backing Argument

Swanson listed three pillars in his original post. Energy expenditure came first. A fixed issuance schedule and record computing power followed.

Schiff dismissed that premise outright. Energy vanishes the moment miners consume it, he wrote, so nothing survives to support the network. In his framing, mining destroys value rather than storing it.

Energy expenditures are not…