Billionaire Howard Marks admits being ‘wrong’ about Bitcoin

The billionaire investor is the latest figure to change his tune on Bitcoin after years of opposing it

Bitcoin is proving many of its critics wrong by the day, and American investor Howard Marks is the latest sceptic to have a change of heart. The investor-cum-writer had for the better part of the last four years dismissed Bitcoin for not being real. He has, however, come around and admitted his view of the crypto asset could have been wrong.

Howard Marks is the co-founder of Oaktree Capital–an investment firm that primarily deals with distressed securities. The billionaire recently acknowledged that he was warming up to the crypto asset in an interview with Korean Economic Daily. He further explained that he was rueful for describing cryptocurrencies as an ‘unfounded fad’ in 2017. Marks said that his dismissive remarks, at the time, were a “knee-jerk reaction without information”.

Owing to its relatively volatile nature, Bitcoin has often been criticised and dismissed by many investors, particularly those whose interests lie in traditional assets. The flagship crypto has stayed afloat and flourished over the years, making those who wrote it off regret their decision.

Marks joins a growing list of many cynics that have changed their tune as well, including Michael Saylor and Jim Cramer.

“Maybe I’m just a dinosaur, too technologically backward to appreciate the greatness of digital currency”, he said. “But, it is my firm view that the ability of these things to gain acceptance is just one more proof of the prevalence today of financial naiveté, willing risk-taking, and wishful thinking”.

The Oaktree co-founder asserted that he had learnt his lesson to avoid making remarks on subjects he’s not conversant with as he had with Bitcoin. Marks also commented about his previous belief that cryptos lacked intrinsic value. Although he admitted he was wrong about that, too, he claimed there was more to it.

“But there are a lot of things that people want and value highly which have no intrinsic value. The supply is fixed by the software, so it can’t expand much, unlike the dollar, which can be printed in infinite amounts. And the demand is growing because more people are interested in it.”

He conceded that investors that purchased Bitcoin while it was trading at $5,000 or lower are looking to potentially gain more than ten-fold the amount they invested.

Bitcoin bulls are currently making a move towards $60,000 after getting a mid-week boost from the announcement made by Morgan Stanley.