Billionaire investor Seth Klarman says he cannot see the point of crypto.” I dont think anyone should own it. It just seems to me like it could very well end up in tears,” he added.
Seth Klarman on crypto investing, gold, and the US dollar
American billionaire investor and hedge fund manager Seth Klarmanofferedhis views on a variety of topics, including cryptocurrencies, gold, and the US dollar, in an interview with Harvard Business School published this week.
Klarman is the chief executive officer and portfolio manager of The Beaupost Group, a Boston-based hedge fund he co-founded in 1982. The investment firm currently manages about $30 billion. His estimated net worth is $1.5 billion, according to Forbes.
On the topic of cryptocurrencies, Klarman said.
I don’t see the point of crypto. I feel like it’s a flirtation with the technocrats.
“The idea that we are using more energy than the country of Iceland to mine extra crypto and solve math problems that don’t need solving seems crazy to me,” he added.
“Why do people need 10 or 50 different cryptocurrencies? I don’t get it,” the billionaire investor continued, stressing:
I don’t think anyone needs to own it. It just seems to me that it could very well end in tears.
In response, Klarman said:” I am a fan of gold. I think gold has value in a crisis.”
The Baupost Group boss also commented on the US dollar.” For a very long time, the U.S. has had the great advantage of the dollar being the world’s reserve currency. I don’t see that changing anytime soon,” he said.
Noting that “it’s hard to imagine people accepting the Chinese currency,” the billionaire also said.
It is hard to imagine people accepting cryptocurrency. There are too many uncertainties.
Klarman has long been skeptical of crypto. He once compared bitcoin to tradingsardines
The Baupost Group chief is a proponent of value investing, a strategy championed by legendary investors such as Warren Buffett and Benjamin Graham. Klarman has been called “the next Warren Buffett” and “the Oracle of Boston.”
Buffett also sees no value in bitcoin or cryptocurrencies. He once said that bitcoin is “probably rat poison squared”; in May, he said he wouldn’t pay $25 for every bitcoin in the world.
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