Sorry, Bitcoin: Here’s What the World’s Most Successful Billionaire Investors Think About the cryptocurrency

Currently, Bitcoin, the cryptocurrency, is on its 8hth straight day of advance the big question is, what opportunities does Bitcoin present from a trading/investing standpoint?

Following is an overview of how the world’s most successful and influential billionaire investors are approaching the subject – they’re collectively worth $154.57 billion.

1. Warren Buffett, known as the “Oracle of Omaha
Net worth: $84 billion
Opinion: “Stay away from it. It’s a mirage… the idea that it has some huge intrinsic value is a joke. It’s a way of transmitting money.”

2. Ray Dalio, founder of Bridgewater Associates, one of the world’s biggest hedge fund.
Net worth: $17 billion
Opinion: “Bitcoin is a bubble… It’s speculative people, thinking they can sell it at a higher price…and so, it’s a bubble.”

3. Carl Icahn, the legendary activist investor.
Net worth: $16.5 billion
Opinion: “I don’t understand it… If you read history books about all of these bubbles…this is what this is.”

4. Ken Griffin, Founder & CEO, Citadel LLC
Net worth: $8.7 billion
Opinion: “It’s not the future of currency. I wouldn’t call it a fraud either. Bitcoin has many of the elements of the Tulip bulb mania.”
Now, these are all Wall Streeters. And they haven’t participated. But this all started as another disruptive technology venture. So what do billionaire tech investors think about it…

5. Mark Cuban, Owner, Dallas Mavericks
Net worth: $3.3 billion
Opinion: Mark first called it a “bubble.” But now, he is invested in a cryptocurrency hedge fund but calls it a “Hail Mary.”

6. Leon Cooperman, chairman and CEO of Omega Advisors
Net worth: $3 billion
Opinion: “I have no money in bitcoin. There’s euphoria in bitcoin.”

7. Jerry Yang, Cofounder, Yahoo
Net worth: $2.6 billion
Opinion: “Bitcoin as a digital currency is not quite there yet. I personally am a believer that digital currency can play a role in our society, but for now it seems to be driven by the hype of investing and getting a return, as opposed to transactions.”

8. Marc Lasry -Founder, Avenue Capital Group
Net worth: $1.59 billion
Opinion: I should have bought bitcoin when it was $300. I don’t understand it. It might make sense to try to participate in it, but I can’t give you any analysis as to why it makes sense or not. I think it’s real, as it coming into the mainstream.”

9. Jamie Dimon, CEO of JPMorgan Chase
Net worth: $1.18 billion
Opinion: “It’s not a real thing. It’s a fraud.”

10. Thomas Peterffy, CEO of Interactive Brokers.
Net worth: $19.7 billion
Opinion: He has warned against creating exchange traded contracts on bitcoin. Peterffy says a large move in the price could destabilize the clearing organizations (the big futures exchanges) which could destabilize the real economy.

Additional expert opinions (not a billionaire):

Daniele Bianchi, Assistant Professor of Finance at Warwick Business School.

“It is evident that what is driving the price of Bitcoin at the moment is its legitimacy as an investment asset. There are clear signs of an accelerating professionalisation of cryptocurrency trading. “Just a few days ago both the CME and the CBOE Global Markets were given the regulatory green light for listing futures contracts on Bitcoin. This is a significant step which gives a mainstream instrument to investors and speculators to trade Bitcoin.

“A further boost of confidence for cryptocurrency investors came after the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) declared that it will replace its current clearing system with blockchain technology. Although many commentators argue that Bitcoin is a pure bubble, the reality is more likely that people investing in Bitcoin are primarily investing in the blockchain as a technology at the forefront of innovation in financial markets.

“Increasing legitimacy of cryptocurrencies as investments is also reflected in the growing number of active exchanges. All this is going to generate increasing pressure on the demand side of the cryptocurrency market, that is, prices are likely to increase further in the short to medium-term.”