Economist and longtime Bitcoin critic Peter Schiff said in X posts dated Nov. 13 and 14, 2026, that Bitcoin’s decline could accelerate and take the cryptocurrency below its 2022 low of $16,500. He also warned that further losses could force Strategy to sell MSTR shares or bitcoin to keep its STRC preferred securities near par.

Bitcoin was trading near $67,000 at the time of writing, according to TradingView.

Schiff expects Bitcoin’s decline to continue

Schiff said Bitcoin’s 22% drop over the previous seven weeks had not produced signs of panic selling or broad investor capitulation that could indicate a local bottom was forming, according to his comments.

“The Bitcoin collapse is gathering steam. I expect the momentum to pick up once Bitcoin breaks $50K. In fact, once it does, it could be a quick trip to the 2022 low below $16.5K. I wouldn’t be surprised to see a retest of that level before year-end,” Schiff wrote on Nov. 14.

Schiff had previously predicted that Bitcoin could fall below $20,000 and said the market remained far from a bottom. He also suggested that such a decline could signal trouble for other risky assets.

He separately said that, by his calculations, Bitcoin ended 2025 down 6.34%, marking the first negative year in its 18-year history, and lost another 16.5% in 2026. Schiff said a third consecutive annual decline in 2027 would break with the cryptocurrency’s historical trend.

In an exchange with crypto expert Anthony Pompliano, Schiff rejected the view that the decline was a normal short-term correction. He said Bitcoin had returned to prices seen more than five years earlier and that its long-term bull market had ended, with the long-term bear market still having further to run. Pompliano joked that Bitcoin was falling to prices not seen in three months and said artificial intelligence and the cryptocurrency had become one big trade.

Schiff also criticized media comparisons between Bitcoin and gold. He said gold was reacting to expectations for interest rates and inflation, while he attributed Bitcoin’s decline to the end of a speculative bubble.

Schiff warns about Strategy’s STRC securities

Schiff said Strategy had less than $5 billion in available dollar liquidity to repurchase nearly $8 billion of outstanding STRC preferred securities.

“As Bitcoin keeps falling, more $STRC shareholders will sell to reduce their risk. But $MSTR has less than $5 billion in dollar liquidity available to buy back nearly $8 billion in outstanding STRC. Eventually Strategy must dump MSTR shares or Bitcoin to keep STRC near par,” Schiff wrote on Nov. 13.

Schiff had previously questioned the claim that 2% annual growth in Bitcoin could cover STRC’s 11.5% dividend rate. He said expanding issuance could create a “death spiral” if Strategy had to sell assets to pay investors.

He later accused Michael Saylor and Strategy of misleading investors after STRC fell to $82.50 against a $100 par value and suggested that Saylor could ultimately face prison.

Schiff points investors toward gold

Schiff called gold a more attractive alternative. He said the metal initially rose 5% following the Democrats’ victory before losing more than 6% amid fears that the Federal Reserve could raise interest rates by 50 basis points. He described gold’s fall below $4,000 as a “gift” for buyers.

CryptoQuant analysts, meanwhile, estimated that Bitcoin had declined about 19% from its peak, exceeding the average correction of 14.39% during bull cycles.

Source: Incrypted