Veteran investor Mark Mobius publicly announced he had U-turned on Bitcoin May 15 as cryptocurrency markets continue to boom.
Mobius: Bitcoin Can ‘Transfer Money Easily And Confidentially’
In a fresh interview with Bloomberg, the emerging markets fund manager and founder of Mobius Capital Partners said he saw a global appetite for Bitcoin in particular – and that this would continue.
“There’s definitely a desire among people around the world to be able to transfer money easily and confidentially… and that is really the backing to Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies of that type,” he told the network.
So I believe it’s going to be alive and well.
His comments run in stark contrast to just eighteen months ago, when Mobius came out highly critical if Bitcoin as it circled its all-time price high of $20,000.
“You’ve got to separate the transmission (from) the value proposition, in other words, ‘Is it really valuable, is it worth something?’ – and that of course is not the case,” he said in a CNBC interview in December 2017.
Even then, Mobius highlighted the demonstrable use case for cryptocurrency: internet-based transfers with higher levels of anonymity and efficiency than that afforded by fiat.
No Personal BTC Holdings
The warning signs of a bubble were inescapable, however, and markets’ return to form in 2019 has still failed to convince Mobius to put some skin in the game.
“Whether I would invest in it is another question – there’s incredible volatility, and at the end of the day you can’t trace one individual or group… one organization that’ll keep track of what’s going on,” he continued to Bloomberg.
He voiced further concerns about security, taking the example of Japanese exchange Coincheck to illustrate the lack of certainty for investors. Coincheck lost over half a billion dollars to hackers in January 2018.
Asked whether he had any funds in Bitcoin at all, Mobius similarly confirmed he did not – but this did nothing to quell the enthusiasm of others.
“Whilst he personally doesnt appear to be a buyer (given vol), supports our thesis that consensus amongst traditional, multi-asset investors has turned significantly bullish,” Richard Galvin, CEO of Digital Asset Capital Management, responded on social media Wednesday.
For a traditional financial community figure, however, the vision of a healthy Bitcoin in future stands out. Other veteran fiat faces remain steadfastly opposed to cryptocurrency, Bitcoinist reporting on recent comments by Warren Buffett, who referred to Bitcoin as a “gambling device.”
“It doesn’t do anything. It just sits there. It’s like a seashell or something, and that is not an investment to me,” he said.
Since he uttered those words ten days ago, Bitcoin has in fact gained more than 30 percent to hit annual highs of $8321 earlier this week.
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