Ultimate Resource On Bitcoin Billionaires

The billionaire investor conveyed his predominantly bullish opinions on the crypto ecosystem during a recent online interview. Ultimate Resource On Bitcoin Billionaires

Bill Miller, a seasoned Wall Street investor and founder of Miller Value Partners, advocated for the rise of Bitcoin (BTC) during a recent conversation with author William Green but voiced skepticism around many of the altcoins birthed during 2017.

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Miller subscribes to the well-documented thesis that Bitcoin portrays digital gold, and unlike many of his financial contemporaries — Warren Buffet being the most prominent — he has been a keen investor in the digital asset space.

Back in early 2016, Miller dedicated 30% of his portfolio to the leading crypto asset Bitcoin at an average value of $500 and has more recently filed a motion with the SEC for Miller Opportunity Trust to invest in BTC via the institutional-grade $2.25 billion Grayscale Bitcoin Trust.

During the interview, Miller correlated his first acquisition of Bitcoin to the current risk proposition witnessed today, all the while wearing a Bitcoin baseball cap:

“Bitcoin is a lot less risky at $43,000 than it was at $300. It’s now established, huge amounts of venture-capital money have gone into it, and all the big banks are getting involved.”

Miller also shared his perspective on the potential of altcoins, insinuating that few projects of the thousands on the marketplace will survive the market’s tumultuous volatility over the coming years:

“There are 10,000 various tokens and stuff floating out there. The chances of more than a handful of them being worthwhile is very, very small. Bitcoin, ethereum, and a few others are probably going to be around for a while.”

Discussing the burgeoning influence of crypto exchange Coinbase, Miller advised investors to not be cautious over one- to two-year fluctuations of the Nasdaq-listed stock COIN, as in his qualified opinion, the asset offers a “default position for growth investors.”

In addition, he drew comparisons between the market capitalization of electric-car giant Tesla and Coinbase, suggesting that the exchange could reach and even surpass the former’s valuation, which stands at approximately $790 billion due to its position in a “rapidly growing, changing industry.”

Updated: 10-14-2021

Billionaires Are Backing Bitcoin Over Gold… But Some Say Ethereum Is Even Better

“The reason I own Bitcoin is because the U.S. government and every government in the western hemisphere is printing money now to the end of time,” said billionaire Barry Sternlicht.

Following JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon’s recent comments that Bitcoin (BTC) is worthless, two well-known billionaires have leaped to its defense — although both of them say Ether (ETH) has some even more desirable properties.

During an interview with CNBC’s Squawk Box on Wednesday, Barry Sternlicht, a co-founder of Starwood Capital Group, said that gold was actually “worthless” and that he is hodling Bitcoin because every government in the “western hemisphere” is printing endless amounts of money.

Sternlicht is estimated to have a net worth of around $4.4 billion and is known for his investments in the real estate market via Starwood Capital Group. The investment firm was founded in 1991 and reportedly has around $95 billion worth of assets under management (AUM).

Sternlicht was asked for his take on Dimon’s reiterated skepticism over BTC being “worthless.”

“Gold is kind of worthless, too, and so is silver. I mean, they have some industrial uses, but they are minor. The reason I own Bitcoin is because the U.S. government and every government in the western hemisphere is printing money now to the end of time,” he said.

Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban, who has a net worth of $4.3 billion, echoed similar sentiments when he spoke to CNBC’s Make It on Wednesday. Cuban said that BTC is “better than gold” before going on to say that he thinks Ether has the “most upside” as an investment.

Despite favoring BTC over gold, Sternlicht also went on to qualify his support for Bitcoin with praise for Ether.

“Bitcoin is a dumb coin, it has no real purpose other than a store of value, and it’s crazily volatile. So, Ether, I own some of that. It’s a programmable Bitcoin, and there are tons of other coins that are built on that system.”

“I’ve become very interested in blockchain technology as a whole, and the digital ledger, which is going to change everything, we’re probably in inning one,” he added.

Not every billionaire is on board the crypto train, however. Larry Fink, the chairman of the world’s largest asset manager BlackRock ($9.4 trillion AUM), stated that he’s “probably more on the Jamie Dimon camp.”

“I’m not a student of Bitcoin and where it’s going to go so I can’t tell you whether it’s going to $80K or $0. But I do believe there is a huge role for a digitized currency,” he said.

Updated: 10-19-2021

Billionaire Investor Carl Icahn Thinks Bitcoin May Be The Best Hedge For Inflation

His comments were in line with Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, who mentioned that inflation was rising along with supply issues.

Billionaire investor Carl Icahn warned Tuesday that the next market crisis may be on the horizon, and Bitcoin (BTC) could be the best hedge against inflation.

With the United States government continuing to stimulate the economy, Icahn stated that he fears the U.S. dollar is becoming more devalued and that the price of goods is rising.

“In the long run, we are certainly going to hit the wall. I really think there will be a crisis the way we are going, the way we are printing money, the way we are going into inflation. If you look around you, you see inflation all around you, and I don’t know how you deal with that in the long term,” Icahn said on Monday with CNBC.

His comments were in line with Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, who mentioned that inflation was rising along with supply issues.

“As the economy continues to reopen and spending rebounds, we are seeing upward pressure on prices, particularly due to supply bottlenecks in some sectors,” Powell said in prepared remarks. “These effects have been larger and longer-lasting than anticipated, but they will abate, and as they do, inflation is expected to drop back toward our longer-run 2% goal.”

Icahn mentioned investing billions in cryptocurrencies this year but still has not added a position in this market — at least not that he has stated publicly. Ryan Adams, founder of crypto investment firm Mythos Capital and Bankless, speculated that Icahn may have a position.

The Billionaire Still Believes There May Be An Alternative To Investing In The Stock Market, And Cryptocurrencies May Be Worth Exploring:

“We got a lot of smart guys working at Icahn & Company, and we just don’t understand bitcoin. I’m not saying it’s bad or good, I’m just saying we don’t understand it. We’re not going to invest in something we don’t get […] The jury is really out on whether bitcoin has intrinsic value or acts as a store of value. If inflation gets rampant, I guess it does have value. There are so many variables, it is a very difficult thing to invest in.”

Updated: 10-20-2021

Peter Thiel Says He ‘Underinvested’ In Bitcoin, Slams Central Banks At Event

Peter Thiel, the technology billionaire and conservative political donor, praised cryptocurrencies and slammed central banks during an appearance on Wednesday.

“You’re supposed to just buy Bitcoin,” he joked to an assembled crowd in Miami. “I feel like I’ve been underinvested in it.”

Thiel said his only hesitation about investing was that he thought “the secret was already known by everybody.” He concluded that “I think the answers are still to go long” on Bitcoin. Adding: “Maybe it still is enough of a secret.”

Thiel, a longtime libertarian, said that cryptocurrencies’ rise was a rebuke of the world’s financial systems. “Bitcoin at $66,000. Is it going to go up? Maybe,” he said. “But it surely tells us that we are at a complete bankruptcy moment for the central banks.”

Thiel spoke for more than an hour during an interview hosted by the Lincoln Network, a right-leaning nonprofit that seeks to bridge the divide between Washington and Silicon Valley. Thiel also sounded an alarm about the development of artificial intelligence. He suggested that crypto was libertarian because it’s a “force for decentralization,” and that by extension: “AI, especially the sort of low-tech, surveillance form, is essentially communist,” because it’s a force for centralization.

Thiel doesn’t want to outlaw AI, he said, but he would like the people building it to “think about how they’re working on a technology that’s going to destroy the world.”

The event took place at the Pérez Art Museum Miami, in a city that has become a favored location for crypto investors. Miami’s mayor has courted tech founders, and it has emerged as a hub for technology, venture capital and finance.

Crypto startups EToro and Blockchain.com Inc. both recently announced new offices in the city, while venture capital firm G Squared said earlier this month that it would open a new Miami office, joining other firms including Blackstone Group Inc. and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. that have expanded in the region.

Thiel’s own Founders Fund was an early promoter of Miami as a new tech hub, with fund principal Delian Asparouhov tweeting in December, “ok guys hear me out, what if we move silicon valley to miami”? The venture capital firm announced later in the year that it had signed a multi-year lease for space in the city’s hip Wynwood neighborhood. Thiel, meanwhile, was reported to have spent $18 million on two adjacent waterfront mansions in Miami Beach.

Updated: 10-21-2021

PayPal Co-Founder Peter Thiel Says He ‘Underinvested’ In Bitcoin

Billionaire Peter Thiel shared concerns that investing in Bitcoin is already a “known secret.”

As Bitcoin (BTC) marked a new all-time high above $67,000, PayPal co-founder and billionaire venture capitalist Peter Thiel said he should have bought more Bitcoin.

Thiel spoke of cryptocurrencies, central banks and artificial intelligence during an interview in Miami hosted by policy think tank Lincoln Network, Bloomberg reported on Wednesday.

“You’re supposed to just buy Bitcoin,” Thiel said, adding, “I feel like I’ve been underinvested in it.”

The tech investor noted that his only concern about buying Bitcoin was that the investment “secret was already known by everybody.” “I think the answers are still to go long. Maybe it still is enough of a secret,” he added.

According to Thiel, the latest Bitcoin rally is definitely a big concern for global central banks. The cryptocurrency’s surge to its new historical highs “surely tells us that we are at a complete bankruptcy moment for the central banks,” Thiel stated.

In the interview, Thiel also criticized AI as an opponent to crypto’s force for decentralization. “AI, especially the sort of low-tech, surveillance form, is essentially communist,” he said, adding that AI is a technology that is “going to destroy the world.”

Thiel is one of the most vocal proponents of Bitcoin, claiming that Bitcoin succeeded as currency in 2014. The venture capitalist is also known for calling Bitcoin “a hedge against the whole world falling apart.”

Earlier this year, the venture capitalist warned that the Chinese central government may be supporting Bitcoin as a means to undermine the foreign and monetary policy of the United States.

PayPal, which Thiel co-founded back in 1998, has been moving into crypto over the past year. The company officially announced its plans to introduce the ability to buy and sell cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin last October. PayPal has since rolled out crypto services in the U.S. and the United Kingdom.

Updated: 10-25-2021

Anyone Who Studies Bitcoin Ends Up Investing In It, Says Scaramucci

Understanding Bitcoin inevitably leads to growing adoption, according to SkyBridge Capital CEO Anthony Scaramucci.

Investors who study Bitcoin (BTC) carefully are eventually convinced to own a stake in the cryptocurrency, according to SkyBridge Capital CEO and founder Anthony Scaramucci.

In a Monday interview with CNBC’s Capital Connection, Scaramucci — who also served a 10-day stint as President Donald Trump’s communications director — urged investors to “do the homework on Bitcoin” and “understand what it is.” He also suggested that investors read the white paper written by anonymous Bitcoin creator Satoshi Nakamoto.

Understanding Bitcoin inevitably leads to growing adoption as many prominent investors around the world realize the potential of the cryptocurrency, Scaramucci said:

“Anybody that does the homework […] ends up investing into it. Look at Ray Dalio, a Bitcoin skeptic, now a Bitcoin investor.”

The executive added that other world-renown investors like Paul Tudor Jones and American billionaire Stanley Druckenmiller have also bought Bitcoin. “These are brilliant guys who did the homework and drew a conclusion that they needed to own a piece of Bitcoin,” he said.

Scaramucci noted that Bitcoin has grown over 100,000% since its inception in January 2009. “If you had one cent in Bitcoin and 99 cents in cash over the last decade, you outperformed everything. Just think about that,” Scaramucci noted.

Scaramucci’s remarks come as Bitcoin sits near its new all-time highs recorded last week, with BTC trading at $63,277 at the time of writing, according to data from CoinGecko. On Wednesday, Bitcoin hit above $67,000 for the first time in its history. The cryptocurrency was trading around $13,000 just one year ago.

A number of big-name investors around the world claim that Bitcoin is not particularly easy to use. According to major crypto industry investor Tim Draper, Bitcoin’s lack of ease of use is the main impediment to the mass adoption of cryptocurrency.

American billionaire entrepreneur Mark Cuban argued last year that Bitcoin needs to be easy enough that “Grandma can use it” before the mass adoption will occur.

Updated: 10-28-2021

Mark Cuban’s Dallas Mavericks Giving Away Bitcoin For 48 Hours

Mark Cuban’s basketball team, the Dallas Mavericks, announced a five-year partnership with Voyager Digital yesterday that makes the company the team’s first cryptocurrency brokerage.

The agreement also includes free Bitcoin for fans that sign up in the initial two days of the partnership, as explained by the Mavericks’s digital content manager on twitter.

Fans who download the app, create an account with promo code MAVS100, deposit $100, and make one trade can receive $100 in free BTC for the next 48 hours. pic.twitter.com/0gmY7m4mTD

— Bobby Karalla (@bobbykaralla) October 27, 2021

Updated: 11-3-2021

Starwood’s Sternlicht Says 2-3% of His Net Worth Is In Crypto

Ultimate Resource On Bitcoin Billionaires

Barry Sternlicht, the chairman of Starwood Capital Group, said he has about 2-3% of his net worth in cryptocurrency.

Speaking at a Bloomberg event Friday in Miami, Sternlicht said Bitcoin is a smart hedge for investors in a world that just “prints money.”

“If it goes to zero, it won’t hurt me,” he said.

Sternlicht also said he expects to see inflationary pressure on commodities from the U.S. stimulus package, exacerbating a housing shortage and driving up rents. Miami Beach-based Starwood has about $100 billion under management in real estate, debt and energy assets.

Updated: 1-1-2022

Billionaires Are Embracing Crypto In Case Money ‘Goes To Hell’

Brokerage founder Thomas Peterffy says its prudent to have some crypto, while Ray Dalio views it as alternative to cash.

Thomas Peterffy took out a full-page ad in the Wall Street Journal in 2017 warning of the dangers that bitcoin futures posed to capital markets.

These days, the Hungarian-born billionaire is well versed in cryptospeak. Peterffy, worth $25 billion, said it’s prudent to have 2% to 3% of one’s personal wealth in cryptocurrencies, just in case fiat currency goes to “hell.”

He owns some himself, while his firm Interactive Brokers Group Inc. recently offered customers the ability to trade Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin and Bitcoin Cash, after detecting “urgency” from its clients to get in on the action.

Peterffy, 77, said Greenwich, Connecticut-based Interactive Brokers will offer the ability to trade another five to 10 coins or so starting this month.

It’s possible that cryptocurrencies could reap extraordinary returns — even if the opposite is also true, Peterffy said.

“I think it can go to zero, and I think it can go to a million dollars,” he said in an interview. “I have no idea.”

His approach highlights the shifting attitude toward crypto by investors who once scorned or were wary of digital tokens but realized, especially in 2021, that they can’t bear to miss out on the potential for big gains.

Even as prices swung wildly, investors large and small dived into Bitcoin and Ethereum as well as non-fungible tokens, dog-themed assets and shitcoins, including the aptly-named $ASS Coin.

Ray Dalio recently revealed he was holding at least some Bitcoin and Ethereum in his portfolio only months after questioning crypto’s utility as a store of wealth. The Bridgewater Associates founder views the investments as an alternative money in a world where “cash is trash’’ and inflation erodes buying power.

Paul Tudor Jones disclosed he’s invested as a hedge against inflation, and almost half the family offices Goldman Sachs Group Inc. does business with were interested in adding digital currencies to their portfolios, according to a recent bank survey.

Crypto moved increasingly into the mainstream of finance, albeit with mixed success.

ProShares launched the first U.S. Bitcoin futures ETF, which attracted more than $1 billion in two days, before inflows sputtered and the price slumped since its October debut. Crypto enthusiasts are still hoping U.S. regulators approve an ETF that actually holds Bitcoin in 2022.

Faring better, Coinbase Global Inc. went public and now has a $54 billion market valuation. It’s founder, Brian Armstrong, is worth $9.7 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

It was also a period when crypto collided with culture. An NFT from Beeple sold for $69.3 million at Christie’s. Tom Brady released NFTs tied to his legendary career, while Katy Perry, Grimes and the agency behind K-Pop sensation BTS all sought to profit from the burgeoning industry. El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele even made Bitcoin legal tender in his country.

The crypto marketing juggernaut will keep going in 2022 — Staples Center in Los Angeles is now Crypto.com Arena, while FTX and Singapore’s Crypto.com are running ads during the Super Bowl — even if prices don’t necessarily climb to the moon.

Michael Novogratz, who runs Galaxy Digital, said last month that prices could go “sideways to down” in the near-term. There was a lot of “froth” in the markets in 2021, Novogratz told Bloomberg, as retail investors piled into NFTs and pursued unusual crypto investments.

The New York-based digital evangelist also predicted Bitcoin won’t fall below a floor of about $42,000. It closed the year at about $46,300.

“So much money is pouring into this space it would make no sense if crypto prices would go much below that,” Novogratz stated.

Jesse Powell, chief executive officer of crypto exchange Kraken, acknowledges prices could fall, but said on Bloomberg TV on Dec. 14 that any move below $40,000 is a “buying opportunity.” He’s quick to admit he’s not always got it right.

In August, he predicted prices would reach $100,000 a coin in 2021. Ark Investment Management’s Cathie Wood, meanwhile, still expects Bitcoin to reach $500,000, and said last month that it isn’t necessarily due for a correction.

There’s still plenty of skepticism from Wall Street and the ultra-wealthy, but also pragmatism.

Citadel’s Ken Griffin recently described the rush to embrace cryptocurrencies as a “jihadist call” against the U.S. dollar. But Griffin said his own firm would trade crypto if there were more regulation.

JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s Jamie Dimon called Bitcoin “worthless” in October, but that came even as the New York-based banking giant was bulking up hiring to help its clients trade digital currencies.

The bank’s clients are “adults,” Dimon has said.

Updated: 12-3-2021

More Billionaires Turning To Crypto On Fiat Inflation Fears

The number of billionaires who have invested in crypto increased last year, and that trend could continue into 2022 as fears over fiat intensify.

Previously anti-crypto investors are increasingly turning to Bitcoin (BTC) and its brethren as a hedge against fiat currency inflation concerns.

One example is Hungarian-born billionaire Thomas Peterffy, who in a Saturday Bloomberg report said that it would be prudent to have 2%–3% of one’s portfolio in crypto assets just in case fiat “goes to hell.” He is reportedly worth $25 billion.

Peterffy’s firm, Interactive Brokers Group Inc., announced that it would be offering crypto trading to its clients in mid-2020 following increased demand for the asset class. The company currently offers Bitcoin, Ether (ETH), Litecoin (LTC) and Bitcoin Cash (BCH) but will be expanding that selection by another five to 10 coins this month.

Peterffy, who holds an undisclosed amount of crypto himself, said that it is possible that digital assets could reap “extraordinary returns” even if some could also go to zero. “I think it can go to zero, and I think it can go to a million dollars,” he added before stating, “I have no idea.”

Bridgewater Associates founder Ray Dalio is another renowned billionaire who revealed his portfolio contained some Bitcoin and Ether last year. This revelation came just a few months after he questioned crypto’s properties as a store of value.

He has now changed that stance and views crypto investments as “alternative money” in a world where “cash is trash’’ with inflation eroding purchasing power.

In late December, Dalio commented that he was impressed at how crypto has lasted before stating, “Cash, which most investors think is the safest investment is, I think, the worst investment.”

Billionaire hedge fund manager Paul Tudor Jones also bought Bitcoin last year, labeling the move as a hedge against inflation.

Pandemic-induced stimulus packages have caused economic turmoil across the globe, the fallout from which could linger for decades. In the United States, inflation is at a four-decade high of 6.8%. This has resulted in a surge in the Consumer Price Index as the costs of daily goods continue to increase.

The billionaires are already seeing the danger signs with fiat currencies and central bank manipulation, and they are increasingly turning to crypto assets. The year 2022 could see more wealthy investors join their ranks if the trend continues.

Updated: 12-20-2021

Billionaire Ray Dalio ‘Impressed’ How Bitcoin Survived The Last Decade

Hedge fund manager and former Bitcoin critic Ray Dalio is ending the year with a positive stance on cryptocurrencies.

Billionaire Ray Dalio gave another positive sentiment, saying he is impressed with crypto while classifying cash as “the worst investment.”

In an interview with Yahoo! Finance on Friday, the Bridgewater Associates founder stated that he thinks it’s “impressive” that crypto lasted without being hacked in the last decade.

“I think it’s impressive that for the last 10–11 years, that programming has held up. It hasn’t been hacked, and it has an adoption rate,” said Dalio.

He also mentioned that he owned some Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH), but when asked how much he owns, Dalio responded by saying that he doesn’t hold a lot of it: “I’m very big on diversification, and it’s a very small part of the portfolio.”

Back in 2020, Ray Dalio’s criticisms of volatility and lack of buyer protection for crypto have been the cause of alarm for many holders. He mentioned that Bitcoin is “not very good as a store-hold of wealth.”

However, at the beginning of 2021, the billionaire did a 180 on Bitcoin, calling the asset “one hell of an invention.”

In an essay that Dalio published back in January 2021, he clarified that both crypto advocates and antagonists are looking at the same thing from different angles. He said that he understands that Bitcoin has its pros and cons.

The billionaire fund manager proceeded to point out that he views crypto “as an alternative money in an environment where the value of cash money is depreciating in real terms.” He added that he still thinks that “cash is trash” as he said in previous interviews.

“Cash, which most investors think is the safest investment is, I think, the worst investment.”

The billionaire’s answers show more positivity compared to his previous statements that the United States may ban Bitcoin and that he would choose gold over Bitcoin back in August, which was dubbed by the community as FUD.

On March 25, Dalio stated that it’s likely that Bitcoin may be outlawed the way gold was outlawed under some sets of circumstances. He cited the gold ban in the 1930s as an example, saying that this may also happen to Bitcoin. During those times, the government didn’t want gold to compete with fiat because things may go “out of control,” Dalio said.

Updated: 12-27-2021

Mexican Billionaire Says ‘Buy Bitcoin’ In New Year Message

Life advice from Mexico’s third-richest person: “Don’t be jealous, believe in yourself and buy Bitcoin.”

Mexico’s third-richest person sent out a heart-warming New Year message to Bitcoin (BTC) enthusiasts on Christmas Eve. Ricardo Salinas Pliego recommended moving away from fiat money and buying Bitcoin in a two-minute festive video.

He gives three pieces of advice to his 957,200 followers on Twitter as part of his Christmas and New Year message before asking his followers to retweet and share:

“Steer clear of fiat money. Whether it’s the Dollar, the Euro, or the Yen –it’s all the same. It’s fake money made of paper lies. Central banks are producing more than ever.”

He pauses before pointing to the camera to say, “Invest in Bitcoin!”

In front of a golden Christmas tree, the other two “presents” of advice Salinas left his followers were to let go of jealousy and to believe in oneself, particularly when pursuing freedom and innovation.

It’s no surprise that Salinas promotes investing in BTC. As a prominent Bitcoin evangelist since 2013, his Twitter bio describes himself simply as a “Mexican businessman and Bitcoin holder.”

Salinas aims to make Mexico’s second-largest retail bank, Banco Azteca, the first lender in the country to do business in BTC. However, Salinas, chairman of the bank’s parent company, Grupo Salinas, was left disappointed in June this year.

In response to his ambitious plans, Mexico’s central bank stated that cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin are not legal tender and are prohibited from use in the country’s financial system. In September this year, Alejandro Díaz de León, governor of the Bank of Mexico, dismissed BTC as a reliable legal tender, citing price volatility as a major roadblock toward full-fledged adoption.

It’s unlikely to deter Salinas. He has been orange-pilling Mexico’s 128 million people since the summer, and in an interview with Cointelegraph in January this year, he shared his conviction for BTC as a non-confiscatable asset.

In the interview, he also declared that he first bought BTC at $500 in 2013 through Grayscale, saying that by 2018, it had been one of his “best investments ever.” He has also tweeted in favor of Bitcoin remittances, which could be a potential $40-billion market for Mexicans sending cross-border payments to the United States.

Updated: 12-30-2021

Kevin O’Leary Says His Crypto Holdings Could Reach 20% Of Portfolio

Clearer regulations around stablecoins could make crypto a more viable investment option, according to the “Shark Tank” star.

Shark Tank celebrity Kevin O’Leary, also known as “Mr. Wonderful,” has said he would be ready to increase his crypto allocations up to 20% as soon as there are clearer regulations around stablecoins.

O’Leary, a former Bitcoin (BTC) skeptic, is now a vocal advocate of cryptocurrency, which currently makes up over 10% of his investment portfolio.

Mr. Wonderful is particularly focused on U.S. dollar-pegged stablecoins, which he sees as an effective hedge against rising levels of inflation. By staking stablecoins, he pointed out, he can make up to 6% returns. He explained to Cointelegraph:

”When inflation is 6%, your buying power 12 months from now is 6% less. And that’s a lot. […] I’m a huge advocate for solving this problem with stablecoin.”

A clear regulatory framework would allow O’Leary to convert large cash positions into stablecoins. Currently, however, he cannot invest beyond 5% into stablecoins because of regulatory constraints.

“With my own compliance department, they’re considering stablecoins as an equity, no different than a stock,” he said.

According to O’Leary, his excitement around stablecoins is shared by many institutional investors, who are “working on it quietly in the background” and waiting for regulators to make their move.

In addition to stablecoins, Mr. Wonderful is also an investor in Bitcoin, Ether (ETH) and other cryptocurrencies. However, due to their underlying volatility, these cryptocurrencies are unlikely to make up a large portion of an institutional investor’s portfolio, he claimed.

“You’re not going to get there to a 20%, 30% in Bitcoin in an institutional or sovereign mandate, you’re just not. Stablecoins have that potential,” he explained.

Updated: 1-3-2022

The Interactive Brokers’ Billionaire Chairman — Who Once Sounded Alarm On Bitcoin – Now Advises Putting Up To 3% Of Wealth In The Cryptocurrency

* Interactive Brokers Chairman Thomas Peterffy said investors should have 2%-3% of their wealth in crypto.
* He once sounded the alarm on bitcoin, but now owns the cryptocurrency himself, Bloomberg said.
* His firm allows customers to trade tokens such as bitcoin, ethereum, and litecoin.

Thomas Peterffy has changed his stance on bitcoin.

In 2017, the billionaire chairman of Interactive Brokers sounded the alarm on crypto in a full-page ad in the Wall Street Journal in which he said bitcoin futures could “destabilize the real economy.”

In a reversal, the Hungarian businessman worth about $25 billion, now told Bloomberg he owns bitcoin himself. On top of that, he advises investors put 2%-3% of their wealth into cryptocurrencies as a hedge against fiat currencies plummeting, Bloomberg reported.

As for the cryptocurrency’s worth, he remains unsure, telling Bloomberg: “I think it can go to zero, and I think it can go to a million dollars. I have no idea.”

A representative from Interactive Brokers did not immediately respond to Insider’s request for comment on how much bitcoin Peterffy owns and what his predictions are for the crypto space.

Starting last September, his Greenwich, Connecticut-based firm, which is the world’s largest electronic broker, began offering cryptocurrency trading in response to customers who had been asking for the service.

Investors now can trade Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, and Bitcoin Cash. This month, the firm will add as many as 10 more coins to the platform, Bloomberg said in its story.

Peterffy isn’t the only prominent bitcoin critic to end up investing in crypto. Billionaire investor Carl Icahn once called digital assets “ridiculous,” but revealed in May that he planned on investing more than $1 billion in crypto.

Still, some skepticism remains. In October, Insider covered more than a dozen financial leaders, including Citadel founder Ken Griffin and JPMorgan Chief Executive Officer Jamie Dimon, who aren’t buying into the hype.

Updated: 1-4-2022

Ray Dalio Says Cash, Bonds ‘Stupid to Own’ Amid Money Printing

Ray Dalio renewed his warning about holding cash and bonds on Tuesday amid the ongoing, pandemic-fueled increase in debt creation and monetization in the U.S.

“This printing of money and buying of debt assets has driven interest rates so low that cash and bonds are stupid to own,” he wrote in a post on LinkedIn. “I think one should consider minimizing one’s ownership of cash and bonds in dollars, euros, and yen.”

Dalio, the billionaire founder of Bridgewater Associates, said it would be a good time to borrow in those currencies. Investments should be saved for stocks and inflation-hedge assets in socially and financially healthy countries, he added.

While Dalio has long been known for his interest in China and its rise as a global power, he said the current economic paradigm is being driven just as much by internal conflicts over wealth and values in the U.S. that have not been seen since the 1930s.

“There is great internal conflict going on in the United States now, which makes it a risky place,” he wrote. “For example, it is entirely possible that neither side will accept losing the 2024 election.”

To be clear, while I express concerns and risks, I believe that we collectively have the power to manage our challenges well if we are smart and considerate with each other. Also, please know that I am not sure that any expectations I have are right. (2/3)

— Ray Dalio (@RayDalio) January 4, 2022

Key Quotes:

“I think one should consider minimizing one’s ownership of cash and bonds in dollars, euros, and yen (and/or borrow in these) and putting funds into a highly diversified portfolio of assets, including stocks and inflation-hedge assets, especially in countries with healthy finances and well-educated and civil populations that have internal order.”

“I don’t see any sustained period in which the government will likely allow cash returns to be better than the returns of a well-diversified, non-cash portfolio (e.g., All Weather) geared to the level of risk you’re comfortable with because that would cause terrible problems.”

“The three major reserve currency empires—the United States, Europe, and to a lesser extent Japan—are in poor financial shape.”

“The amount of financial assets relative to real assets is dangerously high, which could lead to a ‘bank run’-type move from financial assets to real assets.”

“As the dominant power weakens and other powers get strong enough to challenge it, there are greater internal and external conflicts that lead to revolutionary changes in who has what wealth and power. That ends the old order and leads to the next new order. That is now happening.”

Updated: 1-10-2022

Gainin’ On Ya! Binance CEO CZ ($96B) Could Soon Exceed “Meta” And Google CEO’s On Bloombergs Top 10 Richest Billionaires

Ultimate Resource On Bitcoin Billionaires

Changpeng Zhao’s net worth overtook Asia’s richest billionaire, Mukesh Ambani, despite Bloomberg excluding his personal crypto holdings.

Changpeng Zhao, CEO of Binance and also known as “CZ,” tops the list of richest crypto billionaires with an estimated net worth of $96 billion.

According to Bloomberg, CZ ranks 11th among the world’s richest people as Binance retains its position as the biggest crypto exchange in terms of trading volume.

CZ, the 44-year-old crypto entrepreneur, overtook Asia’s richest billionaire, Mukesh Ambani, despite Bloomberg excluding his personal crypto holdings, such as Bitcoin (BTC) and the exchange’s in-house Binance Coin (BNB) tokens.

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According to Bloomberg’s estimation, CZ stands just behind Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison, whose net worth currently leads by roughly $11 billion.

While this was the first time Bloomberg estimated CZ’s fortune, Binance’s growth trajectory signals a possibility of exceeding tech goliaths such as Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg and Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin.

Currently, Zuckerberg, Page and Brin and rank 5th, 6th and 7th, respectively, while Tesla CEO Elon Musk leads the billionaires’ list with an estimated fortune of $263 billion.

Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView confirm that the price of BNB appreciated over 1,300% in the past year alone. If BNB can maintain such a pace, CZ will become the first crypto entrepreneur to enter the top 10 billionaires list.

The success of Binance can be attributed to CZ’s ongoing efforts to accrue operational licenses across jurisdictions globally. Despite regulatory hurdles, Binance maintains an ongoing partnership and acquisition streak to remain a leader in the crypto trading space.

Most recently, the crypto exchange finalized the acquisition of Swipe, a prominent crypto Visa card provider that operates at over 70 million locations worldwide.

In addition, Binance also launched a $1-billion initiative to fast-track the development of the Binance Smart Chain ecosystem and advance mainstream adoption across the financial technology sector.

World’s Biggest Crypto Fortune Began With a Friendly Poker Game

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With $96 billion, Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao is closing in on tech titans including Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg and Google’s Larry Page and Sergey Brin.

The Abu Dhabi Grand Prix draws princes, movie stars and world-famous athletes every year to party on Yas Island, the entertainment hub about 30 minutes from the center of downtown.

Mingling among them last month was a figure charting an unlikely ascent: a former McDonald’s burger-flipper and software developer who, practically overnight, has vaulted into the ranks of the world’s wealthiest people — cryptocurrency pioneer Changpeng Zhao.

CZ, as he’s known to cryptophiles, is quickly becoming a fixture in the United Arab Emirates, meeting with royalty in Abu Dhabi who are eager to bring his Binance exchange to the country, according to people with knowledge of the situation.

He has scooped up an apartment in Dubai and hosted dinners near the Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest building, and on the city’s Palm Jumeirah island — making him the most prominent personality in the nation’s booming crypto scene.

In a region known for dizzying wealth, Zhao, 44, fits right in: His net worth is $96 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. It’s the first time Bloomberg has estimated his fortune, which exceeds Asia’s richest person, Mukesh Ambani, and rivals tech titans including Mark Zuckerberg and Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin.

Zhao’s fortune could be significantly larger, as the wealth estimate doesn’t take into account his personal crypto holdings, which include Bitcoin and his firm’s own token. Binance Coin, now called BNB, surged roughly 1,300% last year.

Binance’s success underscores the vast riches being created in the unshackled cryptoverse, even with recent declines, but controversy has swirled around the firm.

Banished from China — where it was founded — the company faces regulatory probes globally. The U.S. Department of Justice and Internal Revenue Service are investigating whether one entity Zhao controls, Binance Holdings Ltd., is a conduit for money laundering and tax evasion, according to people with knowledge of the matter. Spokesmen for the DOJ and IRS declined to comment.

Binance’s future may hinge on whether it can reconcile with the world’s regulators and find a welcoming location to establish its headquarters.

For now, though, the money is pouring in.

Binance generated at least $20 billion of revenue last year, according to a Bloomberg analysis of its trading volume and fees. That’s almost triple what Wall Street analysts expect Coinbase Global Inc., a publicly traded firm with a market value of $50 billion, will collect for 2021.

“Coinbase might appear to be the 800-pound gorilla from a U.S. perspective, but Binance is significantly bigger,” said DA Davidson & Co. analyst Chris Brendler.

Zhao declined to comment for this story, and Binance disputed the accuracy of Bloomberg’s estimates of the firm’s market value and his net worth.

“Crypto is still in its growth stage,” Binance said in a statement. “It is susceptible to higher levels of volatility. Any number you hear one day will be different from a number you hear the next day.”

A month before watching Formula One stars Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen battle it out on the Yas Marina Circuit, Zhao spoke at the Bloomberg New Economy Forum in Singapore, where he rattled off the numbers behind the meteoric rise of the firm he created in 2017.

In one recent 24-hour span, Binance completed $170 billion of transactions. On a really slow day, he said, it’s about $40 billion — and that’s up from as little as $10 billion two years before that.

In the crypto world, these are gargantuan numbers. Binance routinely facilitates as much trading as the next four largest exchanges combined.

When Bloomberg’s Erik Schatzker asked the billionaire about his wealth during the November interview in Singapore, Zhao demurred. “I don’t care about wealth, money, rankings,” he said.

The slender crypto entrepreneur, donning rimless glasses and a slightly oversize striped tie, added that such matters are a distraction and that he’s prepared to give away almost all of his fortune before he dies.

Whether Zhao can hang on to what he’s gained remains to be seen, and he has plenty of reason to be concerned about his firm’s unbridled growth.

In addition to the DOJ and IRS investigation, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission is probing possible market manipulation and insider trading within Binance, and whether it illegally allowed U.S. clients to trade derivatives tied to cryptocurrencies, according to people familiar with the matter. The CFTC declined to comment.

Binance also has been the subject of consumer warnings in the U.K., Japan and Germany, among other countries. On Dec. 30, a Canadian securities regulator reprimanded the company for telling users of its trading platform that it was allowed to continue operations in the country when it still lacks a registration to do so.

A spokesperson for Binance said the company is “working with regulators around the world and we take our compliance obligations very seriously.”

Zhao has said he welcomes — and wants — regulation.

“I’m not an anarchist,” he said at the Bloomberg forum. “I don’t believe human civilization is advanced enough to live in a world without rules.”

Fortunes built on crypto have ballooned along with the value of digital tokens, which totaled $2.09 trillion on Jan. 7, up from $135 billion three years ago.

Until recently it was rare for a crypto entrepreneur to appear on global wealth rankings. An increasing number are making the cut as more firms in the industry tap venture-capital funding or public markets, bringing greater transparency into the value of these businesses.

Exchanges such as Coinbase, Gemini, FTX and Kraken have attracted hefty valuations in public and private markets, and Binance’s popularity with users and myriad products may be even more enticing to investors.

Crypto fortunes, however, are volatile. Bitcoin has slumped more than 11% this year to about $41,000 and is well below early November’s highs of nearly $69,000. Coinbase shares have tumbled about 35% over the past two months.

And some businesses have run afoul of regulators. BitMex, once the world’s largest crypto-derivatives exchange, is a cautionary tale.

In August, BitMex paid $100 million to settle cases with the CFTC and Financial Crimes Enforcement Network over claims that it allowed illegal derivatives trades and violated anti-money laundering laws.

The firm didn’t admit or deny the allegations. Founders Arthur Hayes, Samuel Reed and Ben Delo are awaiting trial after entering not guilty pleas in a separate Justice Department case that accuses them of violating the Bank Secrecy Act.

Crypto Riches

Changpeng Zhao is the richest cryptocurrency entrepreneur tracked by the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

The Bloomberg Billionaires Index estimated Binance’s 2021 revenue using its U.S. dollar-denominated spot and derivatives exchange volumes as published by industry researchers Coingecko and Nomics, and its advertised trading fees.

The calculation doesn’t include the firm’s other revenue sources, such as margin lending, technology, consulting and NFTs.

It’s valued using the enterprise value-to-sales multiple of publicly traded peers. It assumes Zhao owns 90% of the firm, based on his public statements and regulatory filings in jurisdictions where that information is required to be disclosed.

Binance’s revenue is realized across hundreds of crypto tokens, which the firm doesn’t convert to traditional currencies, Zhao told Bloomberg during the November interview.

“We just hold them,” he said. “If you calculate the number today, it’s one number, and 5 minutes later it’s a different number because every price is changing.”

Zhao, a Canadian citizen, was born in China’s Jiangsu province. His father, a university professor, was exiled to the countryside during the Cultural Revolution and, when CZ was 12, moved the family to Vancouver.

Exposed to technology at a young age, Zhao later studied computer science and eventually landed finance jobs in Tokyo and New York, including a four-year stint at Bloomberg LP, the parent of Bloomberg News.

His road to crypto riches began in Shanghai in 2013 during a friendly poker game with Bobby Lee, then CEO of BTC China, and investor Ron Cao, who both encouraged him to put 10% of his net worth into Bitcoin.

After spending some time studying it, he took the plunge and ended up selling his apartment for Bitcoin. In 2017, he founded Binance (a portmanteau of binary and finance) and it quickly blossomed into a crypto powerhouse. Zhao even got the company’s logo tattooed on his arm.

Binance CEO goes all-in on tokens: ‘I just want to keep crypto’

Binance has become the top destination for trading “alternative coins” — cryptocurrencies that are less liquid than more established tokens such as Bitcoin and Ethereum and have become some of the most speculative corners of the market.

The firm offers trading in more than 350 coins on its international exchange, more than double of what’s offered by Coinbase, according to Coingecko.

Binance succeeded in creating “user stickiness,” in part by allowing clients to use Binance Coin to reduce trading fees, said Tim Swanson, head of market intelligence at Clearmatics, a London-based blockchain firm.

“They don’t even have to be the first to list a coin anymore for liquidity to aggregate there,” Swanson said of Binance.

Zhao’s firm is also the largest provider of derivatives trading by volume, letting users speculate on crypto with even more risk and potential reward.

Initially, Binance allowed clients to open accounts with nothing more than an email address. It focused on crypto-to-crypto transactions, limiting its interactions with traditional banks and their regulators.

In August, the company announced that all new users must verify their identity, and existing users who haven’t will be limited to withdrawals.

It has never had a formal headquarters. Binance was founded in China, banished to Japan and self-exiled to Malta, whose financial regulator later denied having oversight of the exchange.

While the firm has a major presence in Singapore, it was dealt a setback last month when its local unit withdrew an application to run an exchange in the city-state.

Now Binance is trying to settle on a location, Zhao said during the November interview, adding that an announcement about the headquarters would be coming “in a very short period.”

That’s an about-face from 2020, when Zhao said that the company’s headquarters was wherever he happened to be. In legal filings, the firm’s lawyers have said that it’s incorporated in the Cayman Islands, which is well-known for being an offshore tax and regulatory haven.

Binance’s ability to operate just about anywhere has made it difficult for regulators to establish jurisdiction over the company.

“Their approach was, ‘We don’t need a regulator, we are decentralized,’” said Brendler, the DA Davidson analyst. “That worked really well for growing and scaling and product innovations.”

Zhao’s freewheeling approach may need to change as Binance seeks to raise money from outside investors, who typically want some measure of government oversight as an assurance that a business is legally sound.

Zhao is driven to find a supportive regulatory regime, according to people familiar with his discussions in the UAE.

Binance has been filling senior posts with former employees of UAE regulators, and it signed an agreement with the Dubai World Trade Centre authority to help craft a crypto regulatory framework.

Not all of Binance’s efforts to ingratiate itself to regulators have gone smoothly.

Last year, Binance.US, a separately managed trading operation associated with the exchange, hired a former U.S. acting comptroller of the currency as CEO. His appointment was seen as a positive step toward addressing regulatory concerns, but he lasted just three months, departing in August after citing differences over strategic direction.

Despite its legal challenges, investors may be tempted to take a chance on the world’s most successful crypto exchange. Late last year, Binance was seeking to raise money from sovereign wealth funds, and its U.S. affiliate was also pursuing investors with the goal of an initial public offering.

In November, the Wall Street Journal reported that former executives estimated the company could be worth as much as $300 billion.

“To raise capital, we believe that the company needs to show a path to settling on a global headquarters and consolidating operations,” said Robert Le, an analyst for Pitchbook.

If Binance pulls it off, it could make Zhao even richer than Elon Musk, currently the world’s wealthiest person, and No. 2 Jeff Bezos, whom Zhao said he admires.

“I don’t know him personally,” Zhao, speaking at the November Bloomberg event, said of the Amazon.com Inc. founder. “But I would love to be associated with him in the future.”

Updated: 1-10-2022

Billionaire Investor Bill Miller Puts 50% Of Net Worth In Bitcoin

Investor Bill Miller is betting big on Bitcoin, allocating 50% of his personal net worth to BTC and related equity.

Investor Bill Miller is bullish on Bitcoin (BTC) despite the cryptocurrency touching multi-month lows below $40,000 in early January 2022.

Miller no longer considers himself just a “Bitcoin observer” but rather a real Bitcoin bull, as he said in a WealthTrack interview last Friday.

The billionaire investor now holds 50% of his net worth in Bitcoin and related investments in major industry firms like Michael Saylor’s MicroStrategy and BTC mining firm Stronghold Digital Mining. An early Amazon investor, Miller owns almost 100% of the rest of his portfolio in Amazon, he noted.

Miller bought his first Bitcoin back in 2014 when BTC was trading around $200 and then purchased a “little bit more overtime” when it became $500. The investor did not buy it for years until BTC plummeted to $30,000 after hitting around $66,000 in April 2021, he said.

“This time I started buying it again at $30,000, down from $66,000 and the reasoning was there’s a lot more people using it, there’s a lot more money coming in from the venture capital world,” Miller stated, adding that he bought a “fair amount in the $30,000 range.”

The billionaire investor noted that he looks at Bitcoin as an “insurance policy against a financial catastrophe” as well as a powerful investment tool that has been outstripping gold. He also pointed out Bitcoin’s scarcity, meaning that only 21 million Bitcoin can be created.

While pouring as much as 50% in BTC in related markets, Miller recommended individual investors to put at least 1% of their assets in Bitcoin, stating:

“I think the average investor should ask himself or herself what do you have in your portfolio that has that kind of track record — number one; is very, very underpenetrated; can provide a service of insurance against financial catastrophe that no one else can provide; and can go up ten times or fifty times. The answer is: nothing.”

Now celebrating his 40th anniversary in the investment business, Miller currently serves as chief investment officer at Miller Value Partners, a company he founded back in 1999 while working at investment giant Legg Mason.

The legendary investor is known for beating S&P 500 for 15 consecutive years with Legg Mason, where he reportedly controlled up to $70 billion.

Miller’s signature fund, Legg Mason Capital Management Value Trust, lost two thirds of its value due to a financial crisis by the end of 2008.

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