SCHIFF STILL WAITING — ‘NOT SURE WHY’ BITCOIN WON’T CRACK HIS $65K CEILING
Peter Schiff — the gold-bull economist and longtime Bitcoin critic — flagged $65,000 as the resistance level Bitcoin has failed to break since July. Schiff told his followers to sell MSTR and Bitcoin last week citing gold’s rally. Bitcoin held. In his own words: he “isn’t sure why bitcoin didn’t sell off.” That admission — from the loudest bear voice in the market — is telling.
Bitcoin has traded in the $58,000-$65,000 band since early July, roughly 50% off its 2026 peak. Gold has ripped to $4,400. Silver to $66. Schiff’s ‘anti-gold’ thesis says every leg higher in gold should coincide with a leg lower in Bitcoin. It hasn’t.
What Schiff is publicly saying now. He’s puzzled. He can’t explain why Bitcoin held through the pressure. He’s maintained downside targets as low as $20,000 through the summer — forecasts Bitcoin has not delivered on. His public uncertainty may be the most honest thing the Counter-Voice has said this cycle.
The operator read. When the loudest permabear in the space admits he can’t explain the strength, that’s the market talking. Bitcoin held through gold’s biggest rally in years, through the Hormuz escalation, through 30-year yields at 19-year highs, through Fed policy staying tighter than doves wanted. The Counter-Voice’s confusion is Bitcoin’s resilience showing.
A decisive close above $65,000 would put Bitcoin within range of retesting levels not visited since earlier in the year. Institutional positioning around Bitcoin ETFs and corporate treasury buyers, including Strategy, stays in focus as the tiebreaker for which direction the range eventually resolves. Until then, Schiff’s own uncertainty is a signal too.
THE SCHIFF POSITION, CATALOGED
1) Flags $65,000 as key resistance since early July.
2) Sell-MSTR-sell-Bitcoin call issued last week as gold ripped to $4,400.
3) Bitcoin didn’t oblige. Held the band.
4) Schiff, publicly: ‘I’m not sure why bitcoin didn’t sell off.’
5) Downside targets: previously called for $20,000. Bitcoin sits ~3x above that call.
2) Sell-MSTR-sell-Bitcoin call issued last week as gold ripped to $4,400.
3) Bitcoin didn’t oblige. Held the band.
4) Schiff, publicly: ‘I’m not sure why bitcoin didn’t sell off.’
5) Downside targets: previously called for $20,000. Bitcoin sits ~3x above that call.
The Counter-Voice sees the ceiling.
Bitcoin sees the floor.
The cap is still twenty-one million.
Bitcoin sees the floor.
The cap is still twenty-one million.
Bitcoin.com News · Shiraz Jagati · Aug 18 2026 · direct Schiff X quotes + Bitcoin.com editorial framing