Changpeng Zhao and veteran economist Peter Schiff had their long-anticipated debate on Bitcoin vs Gold, discussing the differing philosophies regarding digital and traditional stores of value. Zhao spoke during Binance Blockchain Week and argued that Bitcoin beats gold on factors like verifiability, utility, scarcity, and long-term performance.
During the debate, C.Z. used the gold bar he physically handed Schiff to ask whether he could verify that it was real gold. Schiff, of course, could not do that at the moment while he went on to say that BTC transactions are not verifiably and transparently traceable through a variety of tools available on the blockchain. Schiff, on the other hand, said that BTC is otherwise not valuable, and certainly is nothing, because it is not a means of digital commerce.
Schiff said gold is used and was used in industries and manufacturing and its scarcity. Schiff’s value debate with C.Z. went back to a previous argument on which of the said assets is more valuable, leading to Schiff’s debate challenge to C.Z. last October.
In response to the scarcity argument, CZ acknowledged that the total amount of gold is unknown because there are undiscovered reserves and tracked holdings, unlike bitcoin, where total supply is known, distribution is tracked, and is limited to 21 million coins.
Concerning utility, CZ indicated that there was no bitcoin or crypto in the past, and that cross-border payment processes and bill settlements were slow, expensive, and cumbersome. Now, there are Binance and other payment platforms that make instant global transactions possible.
He also noted that bitcoin is already spendable, which is not the case with gold, although gold can be used in transactions and is not used to spend in everyday transactions, and there are crypto cards and merchant services. Schiff retorted that there are backend processes which make bitcoin payments complex, but CZ countered that transactions should be quick and successful, and the backend complex.
While the discussion was on historical performance, Schiff claimed that gold has been the best performer in the last four years accruing, especially in 2025 with 59% year to date, while bitcoin was struggling below $100,000.
He mentioned this recent trend, but also noted the profitability of BTC over the long haul, especially since BTC has gained value compared to gold over the last 8 years, and, according to TradingView, since the last 5 years it has gained 377%, compared to gold’s 127%.
The disagreement also highlighted a larger debate in the world of finance, which is, is the future of wealth a in a rare, antiqued metal, or a fully transparent digital currency that is continuously reprogramming the future of money?
