One of the disruptive technologies that are now generating a lot of buzz is blockchain.These digital assets have been prone to a variety of opinions, ranging from “they are the saviours of a broken financial system that can financially empower individuals” to “they are exclusively used by criminals and terrorists to support their illicit activities.”
We as retail investors have always been following these billionaires with high acumen religiously and their views have created a significant impact on the investment decisons we make.It’s the wealth they have accumulated through their right investments excites us and we look upto them and their portfolios to constantly evolve ourselves and our investment decisions.
So in this article, we’ll look at where some of the industry’s brightest brains believe we’re headed to-
BILL GATES
Gates is currently considered to be the fourth wealthiest man on the planet, with a net worth estimated to exceed $90 billion. He formerly served as the CEO of the Microsoft Corporation for 25 years and is now a humanitarian through his foundation.
At first, Gates was positive about bitcoin. Speaking to Bloomberg in October 2014, he said: “Bitcoin is fascinating because it demonstrates just how affordable it can be. Bitcoin is more convenient than currency because you don’t have to physically be in the same spot, and currency can be very cumbersome for large transactions. You can improve it or create equivalent technology with adequate attribution so that people are comfortable using it.
At the latest Techcrunch session, Bill Gates slammed cryptocurrencies, saying he was neither “long” nor “short” on them. At the event, Gates also used the opportunity to mock some non-fungible tokens.
Bill Gates has admitted that he has no cryptocurrency. “I like investing in things that have a valuable output,” Gates said. The value of cryptocurrency is simply what someone else decides someone else will pay for it, rather than adding to society like other investments.”
ELON MUSK
Elon Musk is the founder and CEO of several forward-thinking technology companies, including the space exploration company SpaceX and the sustainable energy-driven car company Tesla.
Elon Musk frequently tweets about cryptocurrencies to his 57 million followers. Elon Musk confirmed, during a B-Word video conference with Cathie Wood and Jack Dorsey in July, that his personal crypto holdings, aside from Dogecoin, are Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH). Elon Musk stated his support for Bitcoin at The B Word conference in June 2021. He also stated that Tesla may resume accepting Bitcoin payments. The CEO of SpaceX and Tesla also stated that Bitcoin could be used for economic empowerment. Elon has always been a crypto enthusiast and is keen on investing in crypto although he has always expressed mixed views on the currency. Musk’s tweets have manipulated the market to a great extent. In 2021, when Musk announced that Tesla would no longer accept bitcoin as a payment mechanism due to environmental worries about its high energy consumption, bitcoin’s price decreased by about 15%.
Richard Branson
Richard Branson, the billionaire entrepreneur, is arguably the most enthusiastic supporter of bitcoin and blockchain technology. Branson has even declared blockchain to be an economic revolution.
At last year’s Virgin Disruptors event in London, Branson specifically mentioned using blockchain to build a better land titling system. He stated that in poor countries, land titles are routinely forged or seized from legal property owners and that a blockchain-based solution could end this problem once and for all.
Branson has hosted an annual “Blockchain Summit” on his private island for the past two years, which has resulted in numerous new ideas and collaborations. He is very active and enthusiastic about cryptocurrency.
He believes cryptocurrencies are a viable alternative to traditional finance, which has been impacted in various parts of the world. For example, Ukrainians coping with Russia’s current conflict and Afghans fleeing Taliban control would be very glad that they didn’t have all their money tied up in a local currency.
It’s also worth noting that Virgin Galactic Holdings, Branson’s space company, accepts bitcoin as payment. Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss made headlines in 2014 when they paid 312.5 BTC for space tickets from the venture.
Warren Buffet
Warren Buffett, arguably the world’s most well-known investor, has long been critical of bitcoin as an investment.
He has suggested that it is a massive speculative bubble, similar to the 17th-century tulip mania. Prices, like all bubbles, are driven higher by greed and the fear of missing out.
One of Buffett’s main concerns with cryptocurrency is that it has no intrinsic value. When you buy a coin, what do you get?
The buffet was quoted as saying in a previous CNBC interview: “Cryptocurrencies basically have no value and produce nothing, so their value is zero.”
Many IT industry heavyweights, such as Marc Andreessen, were quick to dismiss Buffett’s remarks, claiming bitcoin was yet another new technology Buffett was unfamiliar with.
According to Yahoo!, Buffett dislikes the currency for three reasons: it lacks “unique value,” it does not count as money, and he simply does not understand it.
“(Cryptocurrencies) don’t reproduce, they can’t mail you a check, they can’t do anything, and what you hope is that somebody else comes along and pays you more money for them later on, but then that person’s got the problem,” Buffett told CNBC in 2020.
“I don’t know whether it will rise or fall in the next year, five, or ten years.” “But one thing I’m certain of is that it doesn’t produce anything,” Buffett said. “It has the magic to it, and people have attached magic to it.”
Winklevoss Twins
Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss are the first bitcoin billionaire whose fortunes grow in the 10-digit club when the prices of bitcoin rise. Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss, two of the first bitcoin investors and the creators of the cryptocurrency exchange Gemini, predict that as more investors use cryptocurrencies as inflation hedges, the value of bitcoin will increase by a factor of more than 25. Tyler and Cameron consider bitcoin as the trade of the century.
Conclusion
As can be seen from the above paragraphs, many of the world’s wealthiest people have opposing views on cryptocurrency. Those who have made a fortune from it believe that it will only get better. Those who have made money in more traditional ways believe that cryptocurrency is a fad that will eventually become worthless.
Do you have a point of view? Where do you see cryptocurrency in the next ten years?
