Does Bitcoin Have Any Real Value Support?

U.S. debt surpasses $40 trillion, reigniting the old debate over mining energy consumption.

Written by: Phil Haunhorst

Compiled by: Saoirse, Foresight News

This weekend, Peter Schiff reignited the controversy over Bitcoin's value backing. He stated that the energy consumed during the mining process does not leave any product to provide a value base for Bitcoin.

Jeff Swanson, a "Bitcoin maximalist" (a term referring to those who have extreme faith in Bitcoin, believing it to be the only valuable cryptocurrency while denying the worth of other public chains and altcoins), previously publicly declared that Bitcoin is the future of currency. Peter Schiff countered this, and their debate has brought the classic discussion of the "source of currency value" back into the public eye.

Peter Schiff Refutes the Argument that Bitcoin Has Value Support

Swanson initially presented three main pillars of Bitcoin's value, with energy consumption being the foremost, followed by a fixed issuance mechanism and extremely high computing power.

Schiff directly rejected this logic. He wrote that energy dissipates completely the moment it is consumed by miners, leaving nothing to maintain the network. According to his understanding, mining is about consuming value, not storing it.

This gold advocate has maintained this viewpoint for years: gold remains in existence after being mined, but electricity ceases to exist once consumed.

The current state of the industry also provides an opportunity for his viewpoint. As many computing power operators shift their electricity resources to artificial intelligence businesses, Bitcoin's total network computing power has been declining for several months, and this year has seen a significant number of miners exit the Bitcoin network.

However, Schiff did not mention the critical point of Bitcoin's total supply cap throughout the discussion. This means that the arguments of Bitcoin value supporters still rely solely on the hard rule of the total supply cap, rather than energy consumption.

The Ineffective $39 Trillion Data

Swanson cited the U.S. government debt at $39 trillion, but the U.S. Treasury's public data contradicts this. Daily statistics from the Treasury show that the U.S. public debt surpassed $40 trillion on August 18 and reached $40.10 trillion by September 3.

Chart showing U.S. national debt surpassing $40 trillion in 2026 | Source: BeInCrypto

This data discrepancy is crucial, as most of Swanson's other arguments are based on comparisons of U.S. debt data. After the U.S. debt hit a new high of $40 trillion in August, the scale of borrowing has not slowed down.

Swanson also linked Bitcoin's argument to market confidence in the dollar issuance institution, but Schiff did not respond to this part, only specifically refuting the claim that "energy gives Bitcoin value."

Meanwhile, the market prices did not provide any favorable evidence for either side. On Sunday, Bitcoin (BTC) traded at approximately $79,600, with a 24-hour decline of about 1.5%. (Note: This is just a snapshot of the news article at the time and does not represent current market prices.)

Schiff had previously shown slight signs of flexibility. Last month, he admitted that he missed out on Bitcoin's rising profits but still insisted that the actual returns for long-term Bitcoin holders are not as substantial as they claim.

In this confrontation, neither side made concessions. However, as long as U.S. debt continues to hit new highs, the question of whether "Bitcoin has any value backing" will be brought up for discussion again.

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