mike novogratz - Pwim.Net

Billionaire Investor Mike Novogratz Refuses to Lose Faith in Bitcoin

On Monday, 14th September 2020, during an interview on CNBC’s “Squawk Box,” Mike Novogratz, the CEO and founder of crypto-focused merchant bank Galaxy Digital asset management company talked about why he still loves cryptocurrencies as a hard asset despite a pause in the latest crypto market rally.

Novogratz has long been an advocate for Bitcoin and sees it as digital gold. During the interview, he took the opportunity to profess his love for Bitcoin. He said: “I don’t see our deficits miraculously collapsing. I still have a big Gold position. I still love cryptocurrency as hard assets. I think being short the dollar still makes a whole lot of sense.”

The Biggest Threat Facing Bitcoin

Last Friday, the US Department of The Treasury announced that the country’s deficit surpassed $3 trillion for the first time in history. It is projected to hit $3.3 trillion by the end of this budget year.

The U.S federal deficit hit $3 trillion due to aggressive fiscal and monetary stimulus. The U.S federal reserve resorted to printing more money in order to deal with a huge fiscal deficit. Novogratz once described “Money growing on trees” as the biggest threat to the world’s largest cryptocurrency. In other words, the biggest threat that any government could pose to Bitcoin is to decide to launch a budget surplus, therefore undermining one of the main value propositions of the world’s largest cryptocurrency.

When the government began printing money to facilitate a trillion-dollar stimulus package, investors such as Paul Tudor Jones begin turning to the scarce cryptocurrency to hedge against inflation.

While Bitcoin’s rally in August was partially attributed to the weakening U.S Dollar Index (DXY), the most current pause also coincided with the recent greenback’s temporary revival.

Novogratz stated that he prefers Bitcoin under this current financial situation, describing it as an “amazing environment” to buy the leading cryptocurrency. With “money growing on trees”, “another possible trillion-dollar stimulus package”, and “global money printing orgy”, Novogratz says that this is the year for bitcoin.

Investing in Cryptocurrencies

The billionaire investor Mike Novogratz thinks that global investors should hold Bitcoins in their portfolios. In his recent advice last month, he said that investors should watch Bitcoin and gold. He is a well-known investor and a famous hedge fund manager. He is a big believer in cryptocurrencies, and in 2017, he told the press that 20% of his net worth was in Bitcoin and Ethereum. He is also known for his price predictions. In 2017 December, Novogratz predicted the bear market prices and continues making price predictions.

Bitcoin Price Breaks $11K Again, but Can’t Maintain Bullish Momentum

Over the weekend, Bitcoin surged past the $11,000K mark once again but has fallen back to record an approximate price of $10,900 since then.

The $11K mark seems to be a big resistance level for BTC.

Bitcoin as a hedge

To some market investors, the fact that Bitcoin (BTC) has dipped is a sign and an opportunity to buy the crypto asset at a lower price. Recently, a lot of institutional investors have made the switch to Bitcoin, with NASDAQ listed Microstrategy racking up an additional $175 million in BTC for their treasury reserve. The business intelligence firm has accumulated a total of 21,454 Bitcoins, which translates to over $250 million.

Why is Bitcoin not maintaining its surge past $11K?

More and more investors, institutional and retail alike, have increasingly viewed Bitcoin as a safe-haven digital asset and a hedge against inflation. Bitcoin bull Mike Novogratz, for one, has touted the cryptocurrency asset for a long time. On Twitter, the Galaxy Digital CEO provided some insight as to why Bitcoin was still trading around the $10,000 levels and has not managed to make the jump from its resistance level of $11K. He said:

“If everyone already understood BTC and believed in it, the price would be way higher. Your opportunity to buy at these prices is because we are early in the adoption cycle.”

The statement was tweeted as a response to a crypto investor who was explaining how there were still many misconceptions tied to Bitcoin, and how many people did not understand it when she tried to “talk crypto” to them.

Crypto whales dictate the Bitcoin run

Though Bitcoin has been having a hard time maintaining its surge past the $11K mark, many crypto investors and Bitcoin whales such as Mike Novogratz have still expressed the uttermost faith in the safe-haven digital asset.

The Digital Galaxy CEO previously said during an interview with CNBC that retail traders have been transitioning towards gold and Bitcoin investments from tech stocks; this would explain why investors have seen the traditional safe-haven asset and BTC rallying alongside each other earlier this year.

Along with the ex-hedge fund manager, other big-time investors such as Microstrategy and Paul Tudor Jones had also seized the opportunity to invest in more Bitcoin and asserted that the crypto asset had a lot of potential.

Crypto experts have deducted that with big companies like Microstrategy leading the pack, this will inspire other firms to join the “Bitcoin bandwagon” and invest in the crypto asset to enrich their treasury reserve.

Firms accumulating BTC reserves

However, following the logic that crypto whales have led the Bitcoin trend, BTC’s inability to maintain the surge past $11K can also be attributed to them. Market experts have observed that there have been fewer whales sending their Bitcoin assets to crypto exchanges. At the same time, institutional investors such as Microstrategy have been accumulating more BTC reserves to save for a rainy day.

As Bitcoin whales and institutional investors are also the ones that buy the most BTC, their activity largely impacts and drives up Bitcoin’s price.

Bakkt Bitcoin futures contracts record all-time high

Recently, custody firm Bakkt has also reported a new record high of Bitcoin futures contracts, breaking its previous record by 36 percent. The Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) backed trading company recorded more than $200 million worth of Bitcoin contracts trades within a single day.

Galaxy Digital CEO Mike Novogratz Says Launch of Digital Euro Will Drive Bitcoin Adoption

Galaxy Digital CEO Mike Novogratz has responded to a recent announcement made by the European Central Bank president Christine Lagarde that the European Central Bank (ECB) will issue its own digital currency. Novogratz does not believe that Bitcoin would be threatened by the digital euro. He instead says that the ECB issuing its own digital currency could help drive the adoption of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.

Why CBDCs Are Good for Bitcoin

In her speech on September 21, Christine Lagarde talked about the topic of issuing a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC). The European Central Bank is currently examining the idea of issuing a digital currency. The central bank is also carefully assessing key challenges associated with the digital currency.

Lagarde said:

“We are also exploring the benefits, risks, and operational challenges of introducing a digital euro. A digital euro could be a complement to, not a substitute for, cash; it could provide an alternative to private digital currencies and ensure that sovereign money remains at the core of European payment systems.”

She described the digital euro as just a complement to cash, but not its ultimate replacement. The digital euro would ensure that a widely used cryptocurrency like Bitcoin does not replace sovereign money.

However, the exact launch of the digital currency is still unknown as there is very little available information about the design of the CBDC.

Novogratz is a well-respected and successful macro hedge fund manager who understands both worlds of traditional finance and cryptocurrencies. So, he understands how the CBDC would impact Bitcoin.

Novogratz believes that the European Central Bank launching its own central-bank-issued digital currency will help the adoption of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies as well. Central banks love to print money. He says that if the same central banks keep printing their fiat currencies like it is a toilet paper, then Central Bank Digital Currencies will deprecate, but Bitcoin won’t.

Novogratz believes that the ECB will go back to its old ways with the digital euro by printing an unlimited amount of money.

Novogratz said that central banks that develop their fiat currency-pegged digital currencies might be providing more power to Bitcoin by paving the way for institutional interest. He said that Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies could eventually benefit from the same infrastructure, which is used by the widespread adoption of CBDC. In other words, central banks would build infrastructure used to safely transact and store CBDCs. But that same infrastructure could be used for cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin.

Bitcoin as A Hedge Against Inflation

Around the globe, central banks are flirting with digital currency. Central Bank Digital Currencies are going to be a trending topic as plans for CBDCs are underway in more than 45 countries, including China, Uruguay, Turkey, France, and Sweden. But are CBDCs a threat to or good for Bitcoin? Various experts have indicated that CBDCs would pave the way for continued institutional and retail interest in Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.

If billions of people will have digital wallets and have a new familiarity and understanding with digital money, then accessing a global, non-sovereign currency like Bitcoin becomes much faster and shorter. If financial institutions have to develop infrastructure and tools to safely transact and store CBDC, that same infrastructure could potentially be used for Bitcoin.

CBDC is still a government-controlled fiat currency, which is the same fiat currency being used today. It is still prone to inflation and selective money printing. To hedge against the decreasing purchasing power of fiat and monetary inflation, people would still consider buying Bitcoin just like what billionaire Paul Tudor Jones has done.

Mike Novogratz Intends to Donate Most of His Bitcoin Holdings to Charity, But With a Condition

Mike Novogratz, the Chief Executive Officer, and founder of Galaxy Digital asset management company has stated that he would be donating most of his Bitcoin (BTC) holdings to charity. The ever-positive Bitcoin whale made this known on Thursday when he acknowledged that he began investing in crypto and Bitcoin because he saw their revolutionary tendencies.

Shortly thereafter, he was asked by a twitter user @RealGilgaMensch, whether he would donate his Bitcoins when the price of the premium digital currency hits $100,000, and he simply replied saying, “Most of it.”

Mike Novogratz is one of Wall Street’s veterans and by far one of the prominent advocates for Bitcoin and digital currencies. The billionaire investor has often advised global investors to invest in Bitcoin as well as other digital currencies in their portfolios. As Blockchain.news reported, Mike Novogratz recently advised that investors should watch out for Bitcoin and gold, and back in 2017, he told the press that 20% of his net worth was in Bitcoin and Ethereum.

As prominent as Novogratz is in shaping the perception of institutional investors about Bitcoin (BTC), his recent revelation with the likelihood to give out most of his Bitcoin holdings to charity has been received with mixed reactions. While some commended the thought, others have pointed the loophole in the promise as it is dependent on when the price of Bitcoin (BTC) would hit $100,000.

With Bitcoin price currently at $10,837 at the time of writing, the journey to a $100,000 seems far off the horizon, but Novogratz himself has refused to lose hope in Bitcoin. Trailing the recent market fluctuation, Mike Novogratz recanted saying, “I still love cryptocurrency as hard assets. I think being short the dollar still makes a whole lot of sense.”

In anticipating the appreciation in Bitcoin price, Novogratz recently said that the continued printing of fiat currencies by central banks will eventually lead to the price of Bitcoin appreciating, a move that may be ameliorated with the launch of Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs).

Mike Novogratz Wins 0.5 BTC on Biden Election Bet, Holds Twitter Lottery

The Founder and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Galaxy Digital asset management company Mike Novogratz revealed that he won half a Bitcoin in an election bet he placed on Biden over the weekend. The billionaire investor held an impromptu Twitter lottery to giving out 0.5 BTC to a young bitcoiner.

“I won an election bet with @StoneyBitson. 1/2 BTC. I am going to have a lottery for young bitcoiners for that coin. No one can enter who already owns a Bitcoin. I’m thinking of a number between 1-1000. Whoever guesses first gets it. I’ll have Stoney send directly. One guess,” Novogratz said via a tweet.

The announcement drew a lot of Twitter users who made attempt to guess the number and one user @Adelgary won the lottery after guessing the winning number 826. Novogratz revealed that he picked the number 8 as it was considered a lucky number in China where he lived for 7 years while 26 represented his birthday.

The current price of Bitcoin is $15,279 according to Coingecko. This means that the 0.5 BTC won by @Adelgary is worth US$7,687.27.

The bet Novogratz won was done by placing faith in his desire to see Democrats take the White House as well as the Congress. A bet that favored him as Joe Biden became the 46th President-elect of the United States of America and the democrats currently dominating the house by 215 to 196 according to the results declared by the Associated Press.

The giveaway of the earnings by Novogratz is in line with the billionaire investor’s long term plans to give out most of his Bitcoin (BTC) holdings to charity. With Mike Novogratz giving out the Bitcoin to someone who has no prior bitcoin holdings, he has further helped project Bitcoin in a good light.

Mike Novogratz Believes Bitcoin Will Solidify Bill Gates' GOAT Status

Galaxy Digital founder and CEO Mike Novogratz has praised Bill Gates for being a GOAT (greatest of all time). Nevertheless, he noted that this status could be solidified if the multi-billionaire owned Bitcoin (BTC).

Bitcoin is the missing piece

The renowned hedge fund manager wondered whether Bill Gates, the co-founder of Microsoft, owned BTC because this could consolidate the latter’s life achievements of being an outstanding philanthropist and investor. Novogratz said through a tweet:

“Bill Gates is the GOAT. Built an amazing company, Is an amazing investor, and the worlds (sic) largest philanthropist. Never seen him rattled. He reads more in a month than most of us do in two years. I wonder if he owns BTC. That would solidify it.”

Mike Novogratz continues to show his enthusiasm for BTC. He recently revealed that he won half a Bitcoin in an election bet he placed on Joe Biden winning the US 2020 presidential elections. The billionaire investor held an impromptu Twitter lottery to give out 0.5 BTC to a young bitcoiner.

Bill Gates has mixed reactions to Bitcoin

Bill Gates has shown mixed reactions when it comes to Bitcoin. For instance, in 2014, when the BTC price was about $800, he acknowledged that this low price thrilled him. Furthermore, he felt excited because Bitcoin facilitated large transactions without being physically present.

Nevertheless, during a Reddit AMA forum, he stated that cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin were used to facilitate drug trafficking, money laundering, and tax evasion. The announcement therefore shows that his firm’s stance on the “digital gold” asset remains unknown.

In July, Bill Gates and other high-profile figures like Jeff Bezos, Joe Biden, and Elon Musk found themselves on the receiving end of a Bitcoin scam hack. Reportedly, the crypto scammers made away with $100,000 in crypto funds.

Why Mike Novogratz Acquired 500,000 Ethereum from Vitalik Buterin at $0.99 Each in 2015

Mike Novogratz, Galaxy Digital founder, and CEO, has disclosed that he bought 500,000 Ethereum (ETH) from its co-founder Vitalik Buterin for only $0.99 per unit. Novogratz acknowledged that they sealed the deal in an over-the-counter transaction back in late 2015.

A friend cemented his belief in ETH

During the interview, the Galaxy Digital CEO, who has shown his enthusiasm for the crypto space, revealed that he got more interested in this industry after his college roommate Joseph Lubin enlightened him of how Ethereum could be used to revamp various industries.

Initially, Novogratz was to buy a 25% stake in Lubin’s venture studio ConsenSys, but the deal became complicated, and he decided to buy Ethereum. Lubin was very confident about ETH, and this cemented his urge to own this cryptocurrency. When speaking about Vitalik Buterin, the Galaxy Digital founder acknowledged:

“I called him up; I had met him once at a dinner. He remembered me but didn’t know me. He thought it was good for the community to have a Wall Street guy buying, so I bought half a million ether at $0.99 maybe, $0.98. He changed the price on me at the last minute from 98 to 99 because I had waited too long, and the price went up.”

At the current rate of $461 per Ether, the ETH in question is worth a whopping $230.5 million.

Bitcoin was very speculative

Novogratz also disclosed that he jumped on the Bitcoin (BTC) bandwagon in 2012 when the price was roughly $95. What captivated him about this investment was that this cryptocurrency was very speculative. He noted:

“I did 15 minutes of research and was like ‘Huh, cool technology, libertarians like it.’ This was in 2012, we were in the European financial crisis. The Chinese were buying it. I was like it is going to go higher.”

Since Novogratz set foot in the crypto space, he has not looked back because he has been a notable proponent. For instance, he recently praised Bill Gates for being a GOAT (greatest of all time). Nevertheless, he noted that this status could be solidified if the multi-billionaire owned Bitcoin.

Mike Novogratz on Why He Now Believes Crypto Should Take Up a Bigger Portion in Investors' Portfolios

Mike Novogratz, the CEO of Galaxy Digital recently revealed that he has around half of his net worth tied up in cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin (BTC). The Galaxy Digital CEO has highlighted that the cryptocurrency is becoming digital gold.

With notable companies including MicroStrategy, Square and PayPal adopting cryptocurrencies, Novogratz added that the adoption of Bitcoin has been on the rise. Due to investors looking at the macro-backdrop of 17 trillion dollars of negative debt of budget deficits that continue to grow, Novogratz commented that Bitcoin, “in some ways, is the perfect instrument.”

Bitcoin has a finite supply of 21 million coins and Novogratz that there is hardly any inflation with the cryptocurrency. He added that the world’s largest cryptocurrency “works for this time and place perfectly.”

The digitization of everything—most likely on Ethereum

WIth digitization on the rise, Novogratz said, “We’re at the beginning innings of rebuilding the infrastructure that American and global business will be done on in the future.”

Novogratz explained that this would most likely happen on the Ethereum blockchain, where smart contracts, tokens, stablecoins, and other utilities can be built on. While most countries have been exploring central bank digital currencies, Novogratz explained:

“All of a sudden, the world is going to go from bank accounts, to wallets. People are going to hold their value—their dollars, their Bitcoin, their movie tickets—on their phones. The banks are going to have to rush into this space.”

The Galaxy Digital CEO added that the announcement of PayPal starting to enable the purchasing and selling of cryptocurrencies was a “huge event” this year. He said:

“You’re going to see every financial institution forced into this space.”

Mike Novogratz on investing in cryptocurrencies and the DeFi space

Mike Novogratz believes that Bitcoin is a very safe investment and that Ethereum has more of a “venture flare,” but it is still an investment his company is interested in.

He added that the decentralized finance (DeFi) space is more for the experts, however, he also believes that in the next five to ten years, the “revolution” is going to happen, when blockchain technology integrates with finance.

Novogratz also revealed that his company has invested in a variety of smaller projects. He advised his clients to invest mostly in Bitcoin, and then some in Ethereum, and some in venture. He added that a lot of the “altcoins” would not have a lot of value but some would have “a ton of value.”

How much has Novogratz invested in Bitcoin?

Novogratz recently revealed during the interview that he has changed his tune on advising on how much to invest in cryptocurrencies. Given the stability around Bitcoin’s price, Novogratz now thinks that crypto can take up a bigger portion of people’s portfolios. Novogratz said:

“If I look at the macro space, I think a new investor can put 5% into Bitcoin. Bitcoin is not going back to 0.”

Novogratz estimated that the cryptocurrency could trade back to $14,000, where investors could potentially lose 30-40%, but investors would not lose 80-90% of their money.

During the interview, Novogratz was asked how much of his portfolio was allocated to Bitcoin, and Novogratz said that his overall crypto exposure is around 50%, half of his net worth, which is estimated at $700 million.

Macro Investor Mike Novogratz Says MassMutual's Bitcoin Investment Could Be The Most Important One of 2020

Billionaire investor Mike Novogratz has described MassMutual insurance company’s Bitcoin purchase as the most important news in the cryptocurrency industry this year.

Novogratz said that in a year marked by an increased number of institutions adopting Bitcoin (BTC), the insurance investment could the largest Bitcoin news of 2020. He tweeted his views, saying:

“This might be the most important $BTC news of 2020. An insurance company buys Bitcoin for its general account. This needs Fed approval. It’s a HUGE deal.”

Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company, also known as MassMutual, had announced that it bought $100 million in Bitcoin for its general investment fund. The insurance firm also acquired a $5 million minority equity stake of the New York Digital Investment Group (NYDIG) company, which offers crypto services to institutions. NYDIG already keeps over $2.3 billion in cryptocurrencies for clients and will now be offering custody services for MassMutual’s Bitcoins.

MassMutual Insurance has been operational since 1851 and has now become the latest mainstream company to invest in the leading cryptocurrency.

MassMutual decided to purchase Bitcoin, which represents 0.04% of its $235 billion general investment account, in the spirit of benefitting from new opportunities while remaining diversified.

Tim Corbett, the Chief Investment Officer at MassMutual, said that the investment is a vital part of the company’s portfolio. He mentioned the addition of the leading cryptocurrency would assist in delivering the company’s long-term value to its policy owners. Corbett further said that the firm intends to look for other innovative and diverse ways to bring value to its customers.

Robert Gutmann, the CEO and co-founder of NYDIG, stated that the insurance company’s purchase of Bitcoin is a crucial moment in the history of the largest cryptocurrency and the insurance industry.

Public Companies Buying Bitcoin as A Reserve Asset

Bitcoin has increased its price by more than double this year and hit an all-time high early this month. Advocates see the crypto asset as a kind of digital gold, functioning as a true alternative to hedge against inflation.

Institutional investors are increasingly embracing Bitcoin to hedge against inflation and currency devaluation, which is a significant factor driving up Bitcoin’s demand and Bitcoin adoption worldwide.

Recently, MicroStrategy business intelligence software company expanded its investment in Bitcoin and recently mentioned its plans to raise $400 million to make more purchases. Square Inc. also followed suit poured $50 million of funds into buying Bitcoins.

DOGE Price Frenzy: Mike Novogratz and Peter McCormack Warn Dogecoin Bull Run Will End Poorly

Amid the ongoing bullish rally of Dogecoin (DOGE), Bitcoin bulls, Mike Novogratz and Peter McCormack have warned against the crypto’s unprecedented price rally which according to Novogratz is bound to “end poorly.”

The statement was necessitated after the second massive rally of Dogecoin in weeks, sending the cryptocurrency’s price to $0.0721 per CoinMarketCap’s data.

Per Novogratz words:

“I actually think the $DOGE frenzy is gonna end poorly. Same reason $GME did. Greed and Gravity. $DOGE doesn’t have a purpose. Stay with $BTC, $ETH, defi coins. Plenty of smarter ways to play this crypto rally.”

Peter McCormack also believed that the ongoing bull run as fueled by Tesla CEO, Elon Musk will end badly for many people.

“Financially, this will end badly for some people,” He said, in direct response to one of Musk’s tweets promoting the coin.

The comments from both Novogratz and McCormack comes amid the plans by many in the cryptospace with the aim to turn Dogecoin to be the GameStop of the cryptospace. The target for the pump is usually $1, but the ultimate concern of the critics to the pump is whether Dogecoin creates enough value to warrant that type of valuation.

Will This Bull Run Also End as a Pump and Dump Scheme?

The current bullish run of Dogecoin will have been well applauded if the cryptocurrency had not been tagged with previous pump and dump schemes. The coin which was forked from Litecoin in 2013 has no basic underlying addressable market than to serve as a fun cryptocurrency.

The bull run has often been fueled by promotional tweets from Elon Musk with one of his recent tweets stating;

“Who let the Doge out.”

Many who look up to Elon’s social media comments sees it as an endorsement and act accordingly. The billionaire CEO also sent the price of Bitcoin soaring when he updated his Twitter status with the word Bitcoin.

Just as the price of Dogecoin crashed back to $0.03 some days back after soaring over 800%, profit-takers may also end this ongoing bull run. An occurrence that will not come announced and catch many who bought the coin at the peak off guard, lending credence to McCormack’s warnings.