TL;DR Breakdown:
- Starwood Capital chairman Barry Sternlicht has revealed he’s currently holding Bitcoin and Ether against inflation.
- According to him, “gold is kind of worthless.”
In an interview with CNBC’s Squawk Box anchor Andrew Sorkin, US billionaire and CEO of the Starwood Capital Group, Barry Sternlicht, revealed he is currently holding Bitcoin and Ether in his portfolio. He agrees that cryptocurrency is worth diversifying into in order to hedge against the impact of massive dollar printing.
Barry Sternlicht is HODLing Bitcoin, Ether
He doesn’t see gold as a worthwhile asset. Despite the fact that the precious metal has some “industrial uses,” Barry Sternlicht said it’s kind of worthless.
Sternlicht further mentioned that the reason he is holding Bitcoin is “because the U.S. government and every government in western hemisphere is printing money now to the end of time.” He pointed out that Bitcoin also has a finite supply, and it is something that is being accepted globally as an alternative to gold.
Meanwhile, he argued that Bitcoin doesn’t have any real purpose other than a “store of value.” Sternlicht’s interest or view regarding Ether is that it’s a programmable Bitcoin, on which other cryptocurrencies are based. In May, Barry Sternlicht sold some of his Bitcoin as he expected a possible increase in capital gain tax on cryptocurrency.
Billionaires are choosing Bitcoin
Besides the Starwood Capital chairman, some other billionaires have shone a light on Bitcoin as a better store of value than gold. In the past, we’ve seen some critics turn Bitcoin investors, like Ray Dalio, who once said the largest cryptocurrency was a bubble and not a “good store of wealth,” due to its volatility.
The richest Mexican, Ricardo Salinas Pliego, recently noted he would continue to hold his Bitcoin for the next 30 years, following the rate of inflation increasing across the countries. The United States just reported an inflation rate of 5.4%, which is considered the highest record since the last 13 years.
