Pierre Rochard slams Altcoins and says they are riding Bitcoin’s Coattails

He proposed sparking a Bitcoin bull market through tax exemptions, a strategic BTC reserve, and Fed accumulation.

Bitcoin advocate Pierre Rochard reignited long-running tensions within crypto when he dismissed altcoins as “bozos and clowns” while arguing that US federal policy should focus solely on BTC.

His comments came as the flagship cryptocurrency fell below $75,000 amid a broad market sell-off tied to macro pressures and regulatory uncertainty in Washington.

Maximalist rhetoric amid market stress

Rochard used profanity in a Feb. 3 post on X to reject the value of all non-Bitcoin crypto assets.

“I don’t want to hear a word from the altcoin crypto web3 NFT ICO XRP ETH ADA blockchain whatever bozos and clowns,” he wrote.

He also claimed that these assets have been “riding purely on the heels of Bitcoin” and should simply “be grateful for whatever happens.”

This maximalist view was posted against the backdrop of significant market declines, with data showing BTC down nearly 11% over the past week, wiping out corporate gains.

On February 2, Strategy, the largest corporate Bitcoin holder, announced a new purchase of 855 BTC for $75.3 million. However, as the asset’s price falls, the company’s unrealized profits have shrunk from nearly $8 billion last week to less than $3 billion, with the broader crypto market losing an estimated $500 billion in value since late January.

In his post, Rochard proposed a policy prescription to spark a Bitcoin bull market, which focused on three actions by the US government: securing a strategic Bitcoin reserve, exempting Bitcoin from taxes, and allowing the Federal Reserve to accumulate Bitcoin.

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These ideas sparked debate online, with one user commenting:

“Oh, so now everyone wants BTC to be treated like real money. Funny how that works when taxes are involved.”

The Bitcoin for Corps host replied: to report,

“Bitcoin is not a foreign currency… it should actually be tax free.”

Policy focus deviates from the Washington Agenda

Rochard’s proposed policy change comes as Washington’s immediate focus is elsewhere. On February 2, representatives from major crypto companies and traditional banking groups gathered at the White House for a work session. The meeting was intended to address disagreements over stablecoin revenue regulations, a key sticking point in the stalled CLARITY Act legislation in the Senate.

The CEO of Bitcoin Bond Company replied to the reporting of the event by journalist Eleanor Terrett with the comment:

“The focus should be on tax exemption for Bitcoin and securing the strategic Bitcoin reserve, and not on stablecoin yields. This is a major distraction.”

The market context is challenging. In addition to cryptocurrencies, an asset sell-off has also affected commodities and stocks. Precious metals such as silver and gold have seen significant declines recently, while Bitcoin has fallen out of the top ten global assets in terms of market capitalization and now ranks 12th. As such, the current environment indicates that volatility must be addressed for Rochard’s bullish policy ideas to succeed.