SkyBridge Capital’s Anthony Scaramucci remains bullish on despite its recent pullback from a record peak of $74,000, fueled by a broader crypto selloff and the launch of spot Bitcoin ETFs.
In an interview with CNBC, Scaramucci highlighted the rapid influx of over $10 billion in the first quarter alone into Bitcoin, outpacing the growth of the gold ETF (GLD (NYSE:)) which took a year to reach the same milestone.
“Maybe the ETFs played a role in Bitcoin’s comeback. I think we can agree on that. And when Wall Street gets a product like this, it becomes a selling machine, generating lots of demand for the product.”
Scaramucci attributed Bitcoin’s resilience to several factors including its halving mechanism which reduces the number of new coins entering the system, ultimately driving up the price due to scarcity. He remains skeptical of claims that the effects of Bitcoin’s halving and ETF launches have been fully priced in, suggesting instead that Bitcoin has “a lot more to go.”
“It’s about a 6% global adoption in terms of the world’s population, which puts it around 1998 for Web 1, to give you an idea of the growth potential.”
Discussing Bitcoin as a hedge against inflation and currency devaluation, Scaramucci noted that while he doesn’t see Bitcoin becoming a global standard like gold, he sees it a major digital store of value. He believes that the flagship coin could reach half of gold’s market valuation, indicating “a six to eight, ten times move from here, but it will come with great volatility.”
Addressing the volatility and cyclicality of Bitcoin, Scaramucci set a conservative target of $170,000 for Bitcoin in the current cycle. However, he acknowledged the speculative nature of the market and the impact of waves of adoption and demand.
In the broader context of the crypto market, Scaramucci mentioned investments in other cryptocurrencies like and , highlighting Bitcoin’s role as the leading asset in the space.
“Bitcoin is the big Kahuna. We also like Solana, fully disclosed. We have smaller positions like Avalanche, and we’re looking at some other tokens.”
He also touched upon the recent sentencing of FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried, adding that he’s personally disappointed as the saga had a broader setback for the industry at large.
“I felt very bad for the kid. He hurt my business, he hurt my reputation. We sold a piece of our business, he lied to a lot of people, and he hurt a lot of people. But when you really look at him clinically, he seems like a very damaged guy who will likely spend 18 to 20 years of his future in that sentence. Despite the light sentence, I’m not unhappy for Sam. I feel bad for him and his family.”
Despite the challenges, Scaramucci’s firm, SkyBridge, is still interested in the crypto space, viewing regulatory scrutiny and legal challenges as steps towards a more mature and stable market.
“The U.S. dollar has lost about 22% of its value since January of 2020, while Bitcoin has gone up 8 to 1. If you’ve owned Bitcoin in a rolling four-year period of time, you’ve actually done well. They’ve never lost money if they’re able to hold onto it for periods like that, which showcases Bitcoin’s potential as an inflation hedge over the long term.”
Finally, Scaramucci credited the delayed approval of spot Bitcoin ETFs with exposing leverage and fraud in the system, ultimately leading to a healthier ecosystem for cryptocurrencies.
“I think Gary Gensler did the whole industry a favor by delaying the approval of the spot ETF, which exposed over-leverage and fraud in the system, leading to a healthier ecosystem for cryptocurrencies. He had the Bitcoin futures ETF approved in November of 2021, and if you follow the administrative law, he should have approved the spot ETF shortly after.”