Earlier this week, American software company MicroStrategy announced it was investing $250 million in Bitcoin to protect against inflation fears and a grim economic outlook. It was a major endorsement in the cryptocurrency space.
But it wasn’t always destined to be this way. Back in 2013, MicroStrategy’s CEO Michael Saylor, who led the announcement, predicted the death of Bitcoin.
“Bitcoin days are numbered. It seems like just a matter of time before it suffers the same fate as online gambling,” Saylor tweeted.
For context, the pioneer digital asset was trading at $1,200 in November 2013, it’s first ever four-figure valuation and the first of its many upward runs.
Saylor did not make any public comments since, until earlier this week when his firm decided to fully back Bitcoin.
“This investment reflects our belief that Bitcoin, as the world’s most widely-adopted cryptocurrency, is a dependable store of value and an attractive investment asset with more long-term appreciation potential than holding cash,” said Saylor on August 11.
He’s not alone in the 180-degree-turn. This year, Mathew McDermott, the head of digital assets at US bank Goldman Sachs, said the bank is entertaining client requests for cryptocurrency transactions after a “resurgence of interest.” This is the same bank that flat out dismissed Bitcoin as an asset class in May 2020 during an investor call.
Bitcoin trades at $11,500 as of today and has emerged as a hedge against global economic uncertainty. Or as hedge fund legend and investor Paul Tudor Jones put it best: Bitcoin’s the “fastest horse” in the global financial race.
Who will be the next Bitcoin skeptic to change tune?