Why nobody cared what did Senator Gerard Rennick say about Bitcoin
Senator Gerard Rennick, in May 2022, called Bitcoin a '$1 million Ponzi scheme' fueled by BlackRock, asserting it produces nothing.
Elected in 2019, Rennick is in his last parliamentary year, having been 'kicked off' the Liberal National Party in 2023 to form 'People First,' which failed in the 2025 Federal Election.
His comment was a reply to a mocking tweet from Tyler Green, a Bitcoin enthusiast and SA Senate candidate (Libertarian) who also failed to secure a seat in 2025, his second unsuccessful attempt after running for the Legalise Cannabis Party in 2022.
In May 2025, amidst a fluctuating cryptocurrency market, a seemingly bold prediction about Bitcoin's future came from an unexpected corner of Australian politics. Senator Gerard Rennick, then a Liberal Senator for Queensland, declared that Bitcoin would "ultimately go to a $1 million dollars" because it was a "Ponzi scheme" fueled by institutional investors like BlackRock. He further asserted that the product would "produce absolutely nothing and nor will the thousands of people" involved. Yet, despite such a striking and controversial statement, it largely failed to capture widespread public or media attention. So, what happened, and why did nobody seem to care?
The Comment and Its Provocation
Senator Rennick, whose parliamentary career began in 2019 and concluded with the 2025 Federal Election, made his comments in response to a tweet from Tyler Green. Green, a South Australian Senate candidate for the Libertarian Party (and previously the Legalise Cannabis Party in 2022), had reposted news about Bitcoin's price rise. A known Bitcoin enthusiast, Green's tweet to Senator Rennick was clearly a taunt: "Any special comments @SenatorRennick You seem to know everything there is to know on the subject mate?"
Rennick's reply, while direct and unequivocal in its condemnation of Bitcoin as a Ponzi scheme, also contained a surprisingly bullish price prediction of $1 million. This juxtaposition — a strong negative sentiment coupled with an extreme positive price target — made the statement peculiar from the outset.
A Diminished Political Platform
One of the primary reasons Rennick's comments likely fell on deaf ears relates directly to his evolving political standing. Elected as a Liberal Senator in 2019, his relationship with the party became increasingly strained. By August 2024, as reported by The Guardian, he had effectively been "kicked off" the Liberal National Party, subsequently forming his own "People First" party.
This shift significantly reduced his political influence. A senator speaking from within a major governing party carries more weight and media attention than an independent or a leader of a newly formed, minor party. His failure to secure a seat in the 2025 Federal Election, as indicated by provisional results from the AEC, further underscores his declining political capital at the time of the comment and subsequently. By the time he made the Bitcoin remarks, his public profile was already more associated with dissent and independent thought rather than mainstream policy discourse.
The Messenger and the Recipient
The context of the exchange itself also played a role. Tyler Green, the individual who provoked Rennick's response, was himself a perennial Senate candidate from two different minor parties, having failed to secure a seat in both the 2022 and 2025 elections. His background as a Bitcoin enthusiast and his sarcastic tone in the initiating tweet meant the exchange was less a serious policy debate and more a digital sparring match between two figures on the fringes of mainstream politics. The audience for such an exchange would primarily be those already following these specific individuals or niche political discussions, rather than the broader public or mainstream media outlets.
The Nature of the Claim
Rennick's assertion that Bitcoin is a Ponzi scheme, while a common criticism leveled against cryptocurrencies, was not new or particularly insightful. The claim of it reaching $1 million, while sensational, was presented as an inevitable outcome of the "Ponzi" mechanism rather than a reasoned economic forecast. Without a deeper, more nuanced explanation or a strong economic background to back the claim, it likely came across as another strong opinion in a highly opinionated space. The cryptocurrency world is rife with extreme predictions and debates about legitimacy, making it difficult for any single, unsubstantiated claim to stand out.
Timing and Public Attention
The comment was made in May 2025. In the fast-paced world of politics and the even faster-paced world of cryptocurrency, public attention is fleeting. News cycles move quickly, and unless a statement is tied to immediate policy implications, a major event, or comes from a figure with significant current influence, it can quickly be forgotten. Rennick's comment, made on Twitter, likely got lost in the daily noise of social media and the broader political discourse of the time.