Thomas Peterffy, the billionaire founder and chairman of Interactive Brokers Group, is urging everyone to invest 2% to 3% of their wealth in cryptocurrency just in case fiat currency goes to “hell”.
His latest statement contradicts his tough stance on crypto coins back in 2017 where he warned (in a full-page ad in the Wall Street Journal) of the dangers that Bitcoin posed to capital markets.
Peterffy now owns Bitcoin Cash, Litecoin, Ethereum, and Bitcoin. His firm, Interactive Brokers Group, has offered its customers the ability to trade in Bitcoin after they “urgently” pushed to join the crypto wagon.
And starting this month, the firm will trade another five to ten digital currencies.
In an interview, Peterffy said that crypto is likely (and not likely) to fetch good returns. “I think [cryptocurrency] can go to zero and I think it can go to $1,000,000. I have no idea.”
Shifting attitude toward cryptocurrencies
Other high-level investors who once scorned crypto want a piece of the potential gains of cryptocurrencies. Even as crypto prices widely swayed, large and small investors were equally divided about Bitcoin, Ethereum, and NFT’s.
Ray Dalio, the billionaire investor and founder of Bridgewater Associates, also questioned digital currencies utility as a store of wealth—only to recently reveal that he held Bitcoin and Ethereum in his portfolio.
According to Dalio, crypto is an alternative to Fiat money where “cash is trash” and where inflation erodes money’s buying power.
Paul Tudor Jones, an American billionaire hedge fund manager, also revealed investing in cryptocurrency as a hedge against inflation.
Crypto prices will go “sideways to down”
Michael Novogratz, head at Galaxy Digital, said prices of digital currencies could go “sideways to down” soon. In an interview, Novogratz alluded that last year’s markets were “frothy” and that investors pursued unusual crypto investments and NFTs.
Novogratz once predicted that Bitcoin prices will never hit the $42,000 mark. Bitcoin prices closed the 2021 year averaging nearly $46,300.
According to the New York-based digital evangelist, “so much money is pouring into this space. It would make no sense if crypto prices would go much below that.”
In August, Jesse Powell, Kraken Exchange chief executive officer, projected bitcoin’s prices would hit $100,000 in 2021. He now acknowledges that he’s not always got [his predictions] right.
Conversely, Cathie Wood, Ark Investment Manager, is still expecting Bitcoin to hit the $500,000 mark, though she’s skeptical it’ll ever hit the mark soon.
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