On his daily Crypto Banter show, Man Ran was joined by four of the world’s greatest investors and financial professionals to discuss investors’ perspectives on Bitcoin that the general public is unaware of.
Raoul Pal, investment strategist and co-founder and CEO of Real Vision Group, Anthony Scaramucci, financier and former White House Director of Communications, Kevin O’leary, Canadian businessman, author, politician, and television personality, and Peter Schiff, CEO and chief global strategist of Euro Pacific Capital Inc., were the guests.
The stream started with a video teaser of a CNBC show with Antony Pompliano where Kevin O Leary questioned Bitcoin authenticity, referring to it as a “digital game,” and the likelihood of deploying real wealth and investing in Bitcoin as a storage of value and as an asset class.
Kevin defended his interest as a pragmatic investor who was not into Crypto in 2017 due to regulators’ hostility, but became a fan with the launch of Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs in France, Germany, Italy, and Canada.
Bitcoin vs Gold
Kevin kicked off the conversation by debating the merits of gold against bitcoin. Peter believes the debate is pointless because Bitcoin is a speculative asset, unlike gold, which allows investors to keep their assets liquid and store value.
Raoul disagreed. With an annual growth rate of roughly 113 percent, Bitcoin and the broader domain of cryptocurrency is the fastest growing technology in human history. By 2024, the Bitcoin network is expected to have a billion individuals on board, up from 140 million today.
Best way to invest today
When questioned about the best way to invest today, Raoul Pal says he is long Bonds, Euro futures, US dollars “because the world is slowing down again,” and the remainder is invested in Crypto.
Peter claimed that some investors are purchasing US dollars because they are anticipating a tightening cycle, which he believes will not occur, and that a lot of money will flow out of growth stocks and into dividend-paying corporations.
Institutional perspectives on crypto
Kevin revealed that he has institutional clients who want to invest in cryptocurrencies but are unable to do so due to a lack of compliance infrastructure. If environmental, social, and governance (ESG) problems are addressed, Kevin believes a trillion dollars in investment will move into the cryptocurrency market.
Companies like Circle and FTX are laying the groundwork, and after compliance is ironed out, bitcoin as an asset class will be established when institutional investors fully embrace it, Kevin noted.
Kevin says his strategy is to engage with institutional clients to set up a facility that will mine cryptocurrency using renewable energy.
Do NFTs hold value?
Peter claimed that NFTs do not have long-term value because they are not validated by being linked to something real, and they are just developed for collecting purposes, as opposed to real artworks that people use. Raoul, Kevin, and Antony, on the other hand, disagree.
Bitcoin or Ethereum?
If Antony had to choose between Bitcoin and Ethereum, he says he would prefer Bitcoin because he believes the network will expand in a similar way to Facebook and explode.
Kevin believes he’ll go with Bitcoin because it’s the “granddaddy” and institutions desire, who see Bitcoin as a property, an asset class, and a store of value rather than a currency.
Raoul Pal says he’d choose Ethereum over Bitcoin not because he doesn’t like Bitcoin, but because the Ethereum network is expanding twice as fast as Bitcoin, thanks to NFTs, or decentralized financial applications built on the blockchain. He believes that Ethereum will outperform Bitcoin as an investment because its network effect is growing at an exponential rate.
Peter Schiff quipped that he would go for the bullet first. If both crash, he believes Ethereum will fall more, but if they rise, he believes Ethereum will outperform Bitcoin, and that is where he will put his money.
Kevin expresses concerns over the Ethereum network’s transaction performance slowing, whereas Raoul claims that the network is congested and plagued by large network effects, and that layer 2 solutions will help.
Raoul further claims that Ethereum does not need to host all activities, which will divert users to other networks at different times, and that blockchain network interoperability makes everything easier for consumers.
This episode premiered on August 20th, 2021.