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The crypto market spent the day arguing about Bitcoin’s future as new comments from analysts, executives, and long-time critics sparked debate across the industry. While Bloomberg’s Eric Balchunas warned that Zcash could weaken Bitcoin’s political momentum, BlackRock said most institutional investors still ignore Bitcoin’s global payments pitch. Meanwhile, Peter Schiff resurfaced with a new caution about “weak hands” dragging the market lower.
Bloomberg Senior ETF Analyst Eric Balchunas said Zcash is emerging at the wrong moment for Bitcoin’s push toward broader political support. In a post on X, he compared Zcash (ZEC) to a third-party candidate like Gary Johnson or Jill Stein and argued that promoting a separate privacy coin could “split the vote” when Bitcoin (BTC) needs unity.
Zcash has third party candidate vibes, like Gary Johnson or Jill Stein. Seems like you better off folding in their ideas to the main party vs splitting the vote, which could have major consequences, especially in such a crucial time for btc. I don’t get it. I’m just an ETF guy… https://t.co/5RMyJl3sUj
— Eric Balchunas (@EricBalchunas) November 22, 2025
His warning arrived as online arguments about Bitcoin versus Zcash grew louder. Timestamp founder and CEO Arman Meguerian pushed back on claims that Bitcoin loyalists are shifting toward Zcash. He wrote on X that he does not know “a single Bitcoin maxi that thinks about Zcash at all.” Jan3 founder Samson Mow agreed and said maxis only look at Zcash “to roll our eyes at it.”
BlackRock Says Payments Pitch Isn’t Driving Bitcoin Investments
BlackRock added another layer to the day’s debate. Robbie Mitchnick, the firm’s head of digital assets, said most of the company’s clients still do not consider Bitcoin’s global payments potential when building an investment thesis. During a YouTube podcast published Friday, he said clients are “not really underwriting to that global payment network case” and view it as a distant upside rather than a core reason to buy.
Mitchnick said the payments narrative may still play out, but he called it “a little bit more speculative” and noted that investors remain focused on Bitcoin’s “digital gold” or store-of-value role. He also said scaling challenges continue to slow progress, adding that Bitcoin and Lightning still need major upgrades. In August 2024, Galaxy Research warned that most Bitcoin layer-2 networks, especially rollups, may not remain sustainable long-term despite growing interest.
As these discussions circulated, gold advocate and longtime Bitcoin critic Peter Schiff revived his own warnings. He argued that Bitcoin’s recent volatility reflects a shift from committed holders to “weak” hands as long-term investors sell. Schiff posted on X that Bitcoin may be entering its “IPO moment” because increased liquidity is letting early holders exit. He said this transition increases the available supply and will make future downturns “bigger.”
“Some argue that after all these years, BTC is finally having its IPO moment now that there’s enough liquidity for the OGs to cash out. I agree, but this much BTC moving from strong to weak hands not only increases the float but also means future sell-offs will be bigger.” Schiff said.
His comments landed during a broader market decline that fueled talk of a possible early bear cycle. Bitcoin traded near $87,084 as investors weighed signals from institutions, critics, and competing networks on what could come next for the world’s largest cryptocurrency.
