Billionaire Investor Blows Cold on Donald Trump 2020 Win and Bitcoin
Billionaire money manager Stanley Druckenmiller, isn't sold on bitcoin. | Source: REUTERS/Brendan McDermid
By CCN.com: Nothing will get billionaire investor Stan Druckenmiller interested in bitcoin. Specifically, Druckenmiller is not sold on the cryptocurrency being a store of value, according to Bloomberg . In his view, however, this stance on Bitcoin does not make him a technophobe:
I don’t think I’m a neanderthal, which is what I’ve been called when I’ve said I didn’t want to own Bitcoin.
Interestingly, at a time when speculation was rife that last month’s Bitcoin rally was to some extent being caused by the U.S.-China trade war , Druckenmiller was then piling into U.S. treasuries. After U.S. president Donald Trump declared tariffs would be raised on Chinese imports on May 5, bitcoin appreciated by over 25 percent in the ten days that followed.
Trump tweets, bitcoin rises, druckenmiller buys treasuries
As billions flowed into bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, Druckenmiller – worth an estimated $5 billion – was purchasing treasuries following the Trump tweet sent on May 5:
When the Trump tweet went out, I went from 93% invested to net flat, and bought a bunch of Treasuries. Not because I’m trying to make money, I just don’t want to play in this environment.
In the tweet in question, Trump had indicated that tariffs on Chinese goods would rise from ten to 25 percent.
With the U.S. and China currently in a standoff regarding trade talks, Druckenmiller sees the only reason for Trump to reconsider his stance would be if the economy weakened. Such an eventuality of the economy softening would also potentially force the Federal Reserve to cut rates.
Druckenmiller not betting on trump winning 2020
Though Druckenmiller does not advocate removing Trump from office, he does not expect him to get re-elected next year. Regarding the constitutionally-mandated efforts to remove Trump from office, Druckenmiller thinks they would do more harm than good.
Besides skepticism over Bitcoin’s store-of-value role, Druckenmiller has also questioned its ability to be a medium of exchange. In December 2017, Druckenmiller argued that Bitcoin couldn’t serve as a means to transact with its ‘kind of volatility’.
Druckenmiller has, however, not kept away from the cryptocurrency field entirely. Last year he invested in the Basis stablecoin project alongside Bain Capital Ventures, Google’s VC unit and Andreessen Horowitz.
