Legendary Investor Makes Sudden, 'Psycho' Attack On Bitcoin

(Aug 20, 2019, - Billy Bambrough)

Crypto & Blockchain

I write about how bitcoin, crypto and blockchain can change the world.

Bitcoin has divided opinion since it was created a little over a decade ago, with some seeing it as a sort of digital gold, while others dismissing it as a scam or pyramid scheme.

The bitcoin price, up over 200% so far this year after a disastrous 2018, has remained highly volatile, despite some thinking bitcoin has become a safe haven asset, similar to gold.

Now, legendary investor Mark Mobius, who last year founded his own Mobius Capital Partners after some 30 years at Franklin Templeton Investments, has attacked bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, branding them ‘psycho currencies,’ and predicting their emergence will ultimately push up the price of "real, hard" assets, such as gold.

Mark Mobius was executive chairman of Templeton Emerging Markets Group for some 30 years and has previously voiced his support for bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.

"I call them psycho currencies, because it’s a matter of faith whether you believe in bitcoin or any of the other cyber-currencies," Mobius told Bloomberg, a financial newswire.

Earlier this year, Mobius expressed his tacit support of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, saying they fulfill "a desire among people around the world to be able to transfer money easily and confidentially," and he expected them to be "alive and well" in the future.

Mobius, who once branded bitcoin a "real fraud," appeared to have changed his tune on bitcoin and cryptocurrencies.

However, his latest comments suggest Mobius' belief in bitcoin and cryptocurrencies extends only as far as their emergence will boost the price of gold.

"I think with the rise of [bitcoin], there’s going to be a demand for real, hard assets, and that includes gold," he added.

Gold has recently hit a six-year high due to a sharp rise in expectations of a U.S. and global recession, looser monetary policy from the U.S. Federal Reserve and other major central banks, and the escalating U.S. China trade war.

Earlier this month, some bitcoin and cryptocurrency traders and investors excitedly proclaimed bitcoin a so-called safe haven asset, declaring it had joined the likes of gold as a refuge from rocky or uncertain markets.

However, a sudden, sharp fall in the bitcoin price as global markets continued to slide put paid to hopes bitcoin had become a safe haven asset.

The bitcoin price has risen almost three-fold so far this year but remains far from its all-time highs set in late 2017.

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Meanwhile, Mobius said investors should be "buying [gold] at any level," pointing to dovish moves from many of the world's biggest central banks, including the European Central Bank and the Fed.

"Gold’s long-term prospect is up, up and up, and the reason why I say that is money supply is up, up and up," Mobius said.