George Soros set to invest in cryptocurrency, after calling it a bubble in January

Remember back in 2017 when Jamie Dimon, J.P. Morgan Chase CEO, called Bitcoin a fraud? Then in January 2018, he later had a change of heart and said he regrets calling bitcoin a fraud and that he believes in the technology (blockchain) behind it. Now George Soros is doing the same. He’s reportedly planning to invest in cryptocurrency after calling it a bubble in January.

The billionaire investor’s $26 billion family fund is set to begin investing in cryptocurrency, according to a Bloomberg report Friday. Per Bloomberg, Adam Fisher, the head of macro investing at billionaire George Soros’ family office, has received internal approval to trade digital assets in the last few months, Bloomberg said Friday, citing sources familiar with the matter. The price of Bitcoin remains flat after the news. The cryptocurrency still trades under $7,000.

In a remark during a speech at World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, billionaire investor George Soros said: “Cryptocurrency is a misnomer and is a typical bubble, which is always based on some kind of misunderstanding.” He went on to say that: “Bitcoin is not a currency because a currency is supposed to be a stable store of value and the currency that can fluctuate 25% in a day can’t be used for instance to pay wages because wages drop by 25% in a day. It’s a speculation. Based on a misunderstanding.”

Soros also talked about blockchain and the coming crash of Bitcoin:

“There’s also as very innovative blockchain technology, which can be used for positive or negative purposes. Currently it’s used mostly for tax evasion and for people and the rulers and dictatorships to build a nest egg abroad,” he said.

So recently there was a just now a … conference where instead of discussing conditions in Russia they mainly discussed bitcoin because that’s what the rulers were interested in. So this will have a big effect on the valuation of bitcoin. Normally when you have parabolic eventually it has very sharp break but in this case as long as you have got dictatorships on the rise you will have a different ending because the rulers in those countries are going to turn to bitoin to build their nest egg abroad. So I expect instead of an abrupt break to have a rather flat top over.

But it’s nevertheless a bubble typical which is always based on a misunderstanding like the tulip mania. But the blockchain technology can be put to positive use and we use it actually in helping migrants to communicate with their families and to keep their money safe and carry it with themselves.”

Soros Fund Management has about $27 billion investment fund assets under its management as of December 31, 2017.