When geopolitical analyst Peter Zeihan appeared on the Joe Rogan Experience, he made headlines for calling Bitcoin fundamentally worthless, stating that it had “no intrinsic value” and was “actually worth negative $1,000.”
At the time, Bitcoin was trading at around $16,000 on January 7, 2023.
“It has another $17,000 to go down,” Zeihan said during the podcast. “There’s no intrinsic value to this product.”
He argued that the rise of crypto was more ideological than financial. “Whenever you invest based on an ideology, you’re going to make some decisions that are a little divorced from math,” he added.
Zeihan described the crypto movement as a belief system rooted in decentralization:
“The people who really like crypto are convinced that it’s the currency of the future, that a decentralized ledger is the way to go, and that anything controlled by a government entity is by definition negative. And if it’s done by the private sector freely, it will be better. That’s just not how currency works.”
Bitcoin hits all-time high since Zeihan’s comments
Fast forward to today, and Bitcoin has defied that forecast. As of May 2025, it’s now trading at $109,449—up more than 580% since Zeihan’s comments. The narrative around BTC has dramatically shifted, with institutional adoption now driving a new wave of momentum.
Bitcoin’s rise has coincided with a string of historic milestones. In early 2025, the launch of spot Bitcoin ETFs marked the most successful ETF debut in U.S. history, pulling in billions of dollars from retail and institutional investors. Sovereign wealth funds, once cautious on digital assets, are now entering the market, using BTC as a macro hedge alongside traditional reserve assets.
Meanwhile, the idea of Strategic Bitcoin Reserves is gaining traction. Corporations and even some governments are beginning to treat Bitcoin not just as a speculative investment, but as a critical layer of financial resilience, especially in a world increasingly shaped by currency debasement, inflation, and geopolitical fragmentation.
Zeihan’s critique was based on a moment of industry chaos, with FTX’s collapse still fresh in the headlines. But Bitcoin’s current performance, alongside rising institutional confidence, suggests the asset has evolved far beyond its ideological roots.
Featured image via Shutterstock
