Dubai — Gold proponent Peter Schiff and Binance founder Changpeng “CZ” Zhao clashed over digital currency fundamentals during a high-profile discussion at Binance Blockchain Week on Thursday, though both men found surprising common ground on tokenized precious metals.

Unexpected Agreement on Tokenized Gold

The debate began with an area of consensus rarely seen between the two longtime Twitter rivals: tokenized gold’s potential advantages over physical bullion.

Schiff presented his TGold platform, which provides vaulted allocated metal with plans to offer either physical bar withdrawals or digital tokens representing ownership. The gold advocate explained how token divisibility enables fractional transfers without physically moving the underlying metal.

CZ endorsed this view, describing tokenized gold as superior to physical bars due to its divisibility and ease of transfer.

The Core Disagreement: What Gives Money Value?

Agreement evaporated quickly when conversation turned to bitcoin’s backing.

Schiff drew parallels between bitcoin and fiat currency, arguing neither possesses intrinsic value. He contended tokenized gold derives worth from physical metal, whereas bitcoin offers nothing beyond transferability.

The Binance founder pushed back against linking physical form to value. He compared bitcoin to successful digital platforms that exist purely in virtual form yet command substantial worth, framing the cryptocurrency as innovative monetary technology sustained by worldwide network effects.

Scarcity: Fixed Supply vs Unknown Reserves

The debaters split on which asset offers true scarcity.

Schiff highlighted gold’s permanence, noting ancient metal remains in circulation today.

CZ countered that gold’s total supply remains uncertain, while bitcoin’s cap is mathematically guaranteed and transparently tracked.

Practical Usage Disputed

Schiff questioned bitcoin’s functionality as currency, noting few goods carry bitcoin price tags and merchants ultimately convert to fiat. He characterized crypto payments as simply selling digital assets before completing fiat transactions.

Displaying a Binance card, CZ maintained users execute direct crypto payments from their perspective when crypto balances decrease.

Investment Performance Battle

Schiff characterized bitcoin as speculative despite institutional adoption through ETFs and corporate treasury allocations, pointing out the cryptocurrency purchases fewer gold ounces now than four years earlier. He described bitcoin as merely facilitating wealth transfers from buyers to sellers.

CZ defended bitcoin’s trajectory from negligible value to five-figure prices, citing a user in Africa who reduced bill payment processing from three days to three minutes through cryptocurrency, enabling his first thousand-dollar savings.

Opposing Predictions

CZ forecast continued bitcoin outperformance versus gold, while Schiff predicted growing precious metals demand will ultimately overshadow cryptocurrency markets.

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This article is provided for informational purposes only and should not be construed as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.