Bitcoin fanatic and blockchain enthusiast Mike Novogratz, a former Wall Street hotshot, recently doubled-down on his pro-crypto sentiment, even while this infant market continues to fall victim to shortcomings.
Revolutions Don’t Happen Overnight, Crypto Included
In an exclusive interview with Bloomberg, Novogratz, a member of Fortress Financial’s top brass turned crypto-centric merchant bank chief, gave some key insight into his personal outlook for blockchain-based assets and decentralized applications. Surprisingly, the diehard, who reportedly holds upwards of 20% of his personal fortune in cryptocurrencies (like Ethereum’s ETH), maintained his optimistic outlook.
Speaking with the financial media outlet’s Erik Schatzker, Mike “Novo” Novogratz commenced the candid conversation by joking that he’s become the “ugly face” of the Bitcoin industry, a far cry from his months as the poster child (and approachable savant) of cryptocurrencies. Yet, in spite of his newfound classification as an “ugly face” of the industry, he explained that he still believes in the technology underpinning Bitcoin — blockchain — and digital assets themselves.
Still, Novo explained that “revolutions don’t happen overnight,” adding that it became apparent that 2017’s monumental rally was a bubble when “people would come up to me wanting to take selfies,” as by then, it was clear that crypto assets were slated to plateau and pullback.
The industry insider is obviously referencing the sentiment that crypto’s come up won’t be an easy task, as pushback is expected from traditionalists and pro-centralists. Travis Kling, founder and showrunner at crypto hedge fund Ikigai, recently explained to the TD Ameritrade Network that it’s early for the crypto industry, adding that a majority of Bitcoin’s 10-year history was just getting its wings off the ground.
By the same token, the cryptocurrency proponent explained that most of the publicity and development that has fallen on cryptocurrencies, namely Bitcoin, came within the last 18 to 24 months, not during this ecosystem’s come up. As such, Kling explained that the cryptocurrency revolution is a “multi-year, multi-decade” play, rather than a chance at short-term profits.
Bitcoin Will Become Digital Gold
Back to Novogratz, the Galaxy Digital representative then touched on what lies in store for Bitcoin. Echoing comments he made earlier on CNN Money, the industry chief noted that BTC will likely become digital gold, subsequently joking that the asset will become a “legal pyramid scheme.” Giving his rationale behind this claim, Novogratz drew attention to Yale University’s recent foray into cryptocurrencies, adding that some of the smartest people, like Yale’s endowment showrunner, David Swensen, see value in Bitcoin and related innovations.
Interestingly, Kling also touched on this value proposition, pointing out that there’s a non-zero chance that Bitcoin could live up to everyone’s expectations, becoming a globally-secured transaction settlement layer that is immutable, decentralized, censorship-resistant, and cost- and time-effective, while hosting the second coming of gold at the same time. He added that even if BTC only amounts to 10 percent of gold’s market capitalization, there is still nine times growth potential for the popular digital asset.
Yet, some say that the market capitalization of BTC could surpass that of gold itself, as stated by Bobby Lee and Adam Back.
In the end, summarizing his points, Novogratz noted that BTC at $20,000 was a “drug,” but then added that he wouldn’t be caught dead stating that it’s going to zero. Instead, he explained that the current state of the market is just consumers visiting the methadone clinic, rather than the end of Bitcoin as a whole.
Even while he has an apparent vested interest in the future success of this decade-old industry, consumers would be remiss to cast aside Novo’s comments. Still, as is common investor practice, the Galaxy Digital CEO’s remarks should be somewhat taken with a grain of salt.
Regardless, the fact of the matter is that many industry insiders aren’t ready to fold, even while countless startups and ‘fairweather’ investors are nearing collapse.
