- Peter Schiff questioned the recent Bitcoin price rally before President Trump’s State of the Union address.
- He warned that without a clear political catalyst, profit-taking could drive selling pressure following the event.
Economist and Bitcoin skeptic Peter Schiff questioned the price increase of Bitcoin mere days before U.S. President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address. The price of Bitcoin had risen by over $2,000 in the previous week, reaching close to $66,000 as traders bet on event-driven sentiment. Schiff expressed his opinion on X, pointing out the speculative nature of market positioning before the highly anticipated political speech. He pointed out that some market participants appeared to have factored in the possibility of a mention of Bitcoin in the president’s speech. Schiff suggests that speculation, rather than fundamental demand, may have driven the price increase.
Schiff pointed out that if the speech did not contain a mention of Bitcoin, market participants might quickly scale back their positions. He also stated that even a mention of Bitcoin could cause market participants to take profits on their positions. Once the initial hype dies down, this would subject market participants to trading pressure in the opposite direction.
Bitcoin spiked. I wonder if Trump crypto bros managed to slip a Bitcoin reference into the SOTU address. If Bitcoin isn’t mentioned at all, I expect it to sell off. If it is mentioned, it's still likely to sell off as Trump insiders who bought ahead of the speech sell the news.
— Peter Schiff (@PeterSchiff) February 25, 2026
Market Dynamics and Speculative Activity
Price action leading up to major events tends to be driven by a combination of speculation and sentiment changes among institutional and retail participants. Some market analysts have pointed to “buy the rumor, sell the news” dynamics, in which prices are driven higher in anticipation of an announcement. However, under this dynamic, actual results could potentially disappoint rally participants, leading to temporary reversals. The observations made by Schiff imply that without a clear catalyst, profit-taking could potentially outpace new investment in Bitcoin.
Investors observing the market today are also observing macroeconomic indicators as well as the market response to the president’s speech. Market participants can adjust their positions based on trading volumes and market volatility in the days that follow the speech. The overall cryptocurrency market has been sensitive to political events and macroeconomic announcements in the past few months. Market price movements are often a result of a combination of speculative market drivers and trend commitment. Market observers also point out that external events can sometimes drive market activity without necessarily affecting adoption rates.
Schiff’s conservative outlook is only one of the many market opinions that are being circulated among traders and analysts at present. As the price of Bitcoin kept fluctuating, some investors kept a close eye on the volumes to see if there was any buying pressure. Others believed that the pre-speech market rally was a short-term market phenomenon. The prices continued to be closely watched as the date of the speech drew near. Market depth provided further information regarding the real-time demand that was being generated during the high price movements.
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