Bitcoin critic Peter Schiff has doubled down on his stance, this time claiming the flagship cryptocurrency is in a bear market.

However, the crypto community pushed back against his remarks, with many arguing that his analysis relied too heavily on short-term data.

BTC Down 20% against Gold

The economist dismissed Bitcoin in a September 24 post on X, stating it is “not living up to its hype.” He pointed out that the cryptocurrency has dropped 20% against gold since its August peak, a fall that he said means its in bear market territory.

Schiff added that since the crypto asset is promoted as “digital gold,” the 20% drop terms is comparatively more than the 10% decline in dollar terms.

Bitcoin recently experienced a sharp correction that dragged it more than 8% down from its all-time high of $123,800 on August 13 to a recent 13-day low of $112,200 on September 22. On the other hand, gold has continued setting fresh highs this year, climbing more than 11% over the past month.

This isn’t the first time Schiff has made such claims. A few days ago, he predicted that the metal’s steady strength could set the stage for a breakout while its counterpart continues to slip. His view is supported by analyst Stockmoney Lizards, who pointed to a bearish rising wedge in the leading cryptocurrency’s pattern.

The latters chart shows $112,000 as the immediate support level, with $110,000 identified as the critical threshold, which means that a break below that point could signal a deeper decline.

Crypto Community Fires Back

Crypto supporters have rejected Schiff’s bearish outlook, with people accusing him of not factoring in the digital asset’s long-term dominance. Some claimed he is “moving the goalposts” by measuring Bitcoin in gold, pointing out that the cryptocurrency is still up triple digits against the metal over the past five years. Others dismissed his argument that a 20% decline constituted a bear market, saying that “in crypto, calling a 20% dip a ‘bear market’ is like calling a drizzle a flood.”

Another X user highlighted the leading digital asset’s long-term dominance, noting that over the past decade, gold priced in Bitcoin has collapsed by 99.3%, dropping from about 4.84 BTC per ounce in 2015 to just 0.033 BTC today.

The 62-year-old has remained relentless in his bearish stance. According to the artificial intelligence platform Grok, he has made 237 separate predictions since 2011 forecasting Bitcoin’s crash, collapse, or eventual worthlessness.