Bitcoin’s success has already caused skeptical billionaires to change their stance on investing

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With Bitcoin hitting 70% in 2021, it’s no wonder some previously crypto-skeptical billionaires are raising their stance on the asset.

Explore: 8 Best Cryptocurrencies To Invest In For 20222021 Wealth Recap: Who Are The Billionaires Who Added $ 402 Billion To Their Fortune

In comparison, the S&P 500 index jumped 28% and gold fell 7% over the same period, marking the third consecutive year that Bitcoin has outperformed both.

Thomas Peterffy, chairman of the world’s largest electronic brokerage Interactive Brokers – with a fortune of $ 24.8 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index – recently told Bloomberg it was prudent to have 2% at 3% of his personal fortune in cryptocurrency, just in case the fiat money goes to “hell”.

Pefferty has come a long way since 2017, when he published a full page ad in the Wall Street Journal in 2017 warning of the dangers Bitcoin futures posed to capital markets. In an open letter to the WSJ in November 2017, Pefferty wrote that “cryptocurrencies do not have a mature, regulated and tested underlying market. The products and their markets have been around for less than 10 years and have little or no relation to economic circumstances or real world reality. To market such a product in a reasonable manner is impossible. While the buyer (the long side) of a cryptocurrency futures contract or call option might be required to put up 100% of the value to ensure safety, it is impossible to determine. the margin required for the seller (the short side).

On January 1, however, he told Bloomberg that he owned crypto and that his company had recently offered customers the option to trade Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin and Bitcoin Cash, after detecting the ‘urgency’ of customers. to participate in the action. This month, the company will offer the option to trade an additional five to ten coins, according to Bloomberg.

Related: A Look At Crypto’s Highs And Lows In 2021

Ray Dalio, founder and co-chief investment officer of Bridgewater Associates – whose fortune stands at $ 15.6 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index – also recently said he was impressed with Bitcoin.

“It has been an incredible achievement for Bitcoin to have achieved what it has done, to write this program, not to be hacked, to make it work and to have adopted it as it has been. . I believe in blockchain technology; there is going to be this revolution, so it has gained credibility, “Dalio told MarketWatch.” I’m not a bitcoin expert, but I think it has merit as a small portion of a wallet Bitcoin is like gold, although gold is the well-established, blue-chip alternative to fiat money.

Other big name billionaires are also extremely bullish on Bitcoin. MicroStrategy CEO Michael Saylor – whose fortune stands at $ 2.1 billion, according to Forbes – announced on December 30 the additional purchase of Bitcoins.

MicroStrategy purchased an additional 1,914 bitcoins for ~ $ 94.2 million in cash at an average price of around $ 49,229 per #bitcoin. As of 12/29/21, we have #hodl ~ 124,391 bitcoin acquired for ~ $ 3.75 billion at an average price of ~ $ 30,159 per bitcoin. $ MSTRhttps: //t.co/tNxDwaT8VD— Michael Saylor⚡️ (@saylor) December 30, 2021

“MicroStrategy purchased an additional 1,914 bitcoins for ~ $ 94.2 million in cash at an average price of around $ 49,229 per #bitcoin. As of 12/29/21, we have #hodl ~ 124,391 bitcoins acquired for ~ $ 3.75 billion at an average price of around $ 30,159 per bitcoin, ”Saylor tweeted.

Bitcoin has garnered increased interest this year thanks to several factors, including the rise of retail investors, institutional adoption by many well-known financial institutions, and the launch of several Bitcoin-related exchange-traded funds (ETFs).

See: 4 Best Crypto Exchanges of 2022 Learn: 10 Best Crypto Research Tools You Must Have As an Investor

Inflation has also been a driver of increased interest in Bitcoin this year, as Bitcoin’s bulls have continually argued that it can act the same as gold as a hedge against it. Reasons cited include Bitcoin’s inherent scarcity – there will never be more than 21 million Bitcoin in circulation, for example – and the fact that Bitcoin is not strictly tied to a country or fiat currency.

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About the Author

Yaël Bizouati-Kennedy is a former full-time financial journalist and has written for several publications, including Dow Jones, The Financial Times Group, Bloomberg and Business Insider. She has also worked as a vice president / senior content writer for large New York-based financial firms including New York Life and MSCI. Yaël is now a freelance writer and more recently she co-authored the book “Blockchain for Medical Research: Accelerating Trust in Healthcare”, with Dr Sean Manion. (CRC Press, April 2020) She holds two master’s degrees, one in journalism from New York University and one in Russian studies from Toulouse-Jean Jaurès University, France.

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