Bitcoiners Fire Back at Aussie Senator’s Anti-Bitcoin Remarks

Bitcoiners Fire Back at Aussie Senator's 'You Can’t Eat Bitcoin' Remark

Australian Senator Gerard Rennick has drawn fire from the Bitcoin community after dismissing Bitcoin as a Ponzi scheme and questioning its value because it “can’t be eaten.”

In a May 23 post on X (formerly Twitter), Rennick responded to a user asking about his stance following Bitcoin’s new all-time high of $111,970 on May 22, saying, “You can’t eat Bitcoin.”

Rennick elaborated, claiming Bitcoin will eventually hit $1 million, but only because it’s a Ponzi scheme driven by institutional players like BlackRock pumping money into a limited-supply asset. “What exactly will this product produce?” Rennick asked, asserting Bitcoin “produces absolutely nothing” and arguing that Australia “needs real engineers, not financial engineers.”

Source: Gerard Rennick

The Bitcoin community was quick to push back. The Australian Bitcoin Industry Body (ABIB) said Rennick’s comments reveal “a deep misunderstanding,” warning that such misconceptions lead to poor policy decisions.

Popular voices joined the backlash:

• Laura Shin, host of the Unchained podcast, quipped, “You also can’t eat the internet, so do you oppose that too?”

• Jimmy Kostro from the Bitcoin Marathon team added, “This is definitely going to age well.”

• Jameson Lopp, Casa co-founder, predicted, “This will age poorly.”

• Anthony Pompliano, Bitcoin entrepreneur, said, “Imagine the ignorance of a politician to believe they can make investment decisions.”

• Andrew Gordon, a crypto lawyer, commented, “We need more elected officials who understand that Bitcoin and crypto are the future.”

Rennick, however, brushed off the criticism, stating he doesn’t “need to explain anything” and calling it “pathetic” that Bitcoiners seek reassurance from politicians they claim to distrust.

Source: Coinvision

This clash comes just weeks after Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs faced similar backlash for vetoing a bill that would have allowed the state to hold Bitcoin in its reserves. The Bitcoin community also criticized the U.S. government’s move to transfer $1.9 billion in Bitcoin to Coinbase in December 2024.