Mike Novogratz is not your typical bitcoiner. He is not a militant libertarian who found his way to Bitcoin through the cypherpunk movement. He is also not a Californian computer scientist with a passion for crypto and privacy. And neither is he one of those individuals who were born a second time to build a new identity around the “bitcoin ideology” on Twitter and YouTube. Mike is different.
Mike Novogratz is a Wall Street man. He is a venture capitalist. He is a mutual fund manager. He is smart enough not to polarize too much with the orthodoxy of the crypto community. And he is old enough to speak the language of Wall Street perfectly. I mean, when he’s interviewed on TV, he doesn’t seem like a raving lunatic like many in this space. What does Mike Novogratz (really) say about Bitcoin?
Friend Mike seems to know everyone. And he seems to be everywhere. He exposes himself, relates, participates and socializes. Mike talks to a lot of people. And he is one of those people who likes. If Michael Saylor and Max Keizer are the representatives of the most radical current within the crypto community, Mike Novogratz, of Galaxy Digital, is one of the representatives of the more moderate current. In other words, it is a less idiosyncratic sector and more investor. In this group, we could also include Cathie Wood of Ark Invest and Tom Lee of Fundstrat. In these cases, money is the most important.
Now, people who manage other people’s money tend to be bullish all the time. In other words, widespread optimism should always be a starting point. After all, pessimism is not very good at attracting customers. Of course, it is not a very good idea to create false expectations either. Clients demand results. And they don’t like losing money. That means that during a bad year you can lose a large part of your clientele.
Indeed, many specialized cryptocurrency funds have had a terrible year. And many of them are on the verge of bankruptcy due to the massive flight of disappointed customers. They promised towns and castles. And now they are paying the consequences. Obviously there is a crisis of confidence. Many investors feel cheated by the false promises of many. Why? Because it is customary in this space to talk about Bitcoin and its price with iron security. Mistake. If an asset as risky as Bitcoin is portrayed as a safe haven, it stands to reason that many investors would be disappointed by bad advice.
The card up the sleeve of many of these bad advisers is the long-term investment argument. In other words, unrealized losses are drawn as temporary setbacks.. And all we have to do is wait placidly for recovery. I mean, this is all a walk in the park. Nevertheless, investors are not stupid. They perfectly remember that the forecasts before the crash were bullish. And many bought very expensive thanks to these forecasts. Now these same tipsters, with credibility on the ground, are asking for our patience.. That is the current problem of crypto funds in a nutshell.
Compared to previous bull runs, the next rally in Bitcoin will have to focus more on utility and less on historyNovogratz predicted in a panel at the Token2049 cryptocurrency event last Wednesday.
According to Novagratz, the 2017 bull run was mostly about the story of people not trusting the government and wanting more privacy and decentralization. “It was a generation Z millennial revolution. And it was global. That’s a powerful story,” the CEO noted.
It should be noted that Mike Novogratz acknowledged, on a CNBC, that he has taken short positions in the stock market. However, the moment it was his turn to talk about Bitcoin, he got tongue-tied. Y cannot answer a direct question. answered evasively. “I have a mandate,” she said. Obviously the baker must continue to sell his bread. Here put the link of the interview.
Certain. The bull run of 2017, without a doubt, was driven by the liberatory narrative. And the last bullish streak was driven by Covid-19. The next bull run cannot depend on the libertarian narrative, because that narrative has been refuted with everything that has happened lately. In times of crisis, people sought refuge in the dollar. Of course, if we go back in time to 2017 and listen to the predictions about the next crisis, the story unfolded in a completely different way. well, heThe crisis has arrived and the world could not be more different than predicted.
What actually What Mike Novogratz is saying is that the libertarian ideology of 2017 is no longer very convincing and the ideology must give way to pragmatism. Rather, idiosyncrasy is losing strength in the face of evidence. So the future must revolve around utility. In other words, less words and more action. Less illuminated eyes and more infrastructure. Less tweets and more development.
Of course, despite his blunder in the Terra / Luna case, I must confess that Mike Novogratz’s analyzes and forecasts are not bad. In fact, I always listen very carefully. I consider him a pretty successful subject. Obviously, in the case of an opinion writer like this server, it is much easier to give an opinion without filters. My responsibility is much less. And obviously I have less to lose. In the case of our friend Mike, he has a business to take care of. His words must be calculated. He can’t be too honest, because he loses customers. He cannot promise too much, because he also loses customers. He must speak as the seller of his product. But with a lot of responsibility.
You don’t have to be a genius to know that many have found an identity in Bitcoin. That is to say, many are now heroes of history by joining a movement with culture, narrative and creeds. The bitconer cosmology has it all. It has its enemies (The State, private banks, central banks, fiat money and others). He has his savior. In this case, the savior is Bitcoin. And it has a promise. This is the libertarian and decentralized paradise of the future. But above all, it has its heroes. It is about the enlightened ones who have understood the great deception of the established elites and now they know the whole truth about money as a form of oppression or emancipation. That “story” is irresistible to many.
Now, not all of us belong to that current. MMany of us are mere investors. We recognize the usefulness of a technology. And we see the opportunity of a good investment. This group of pragmatic bitcoiners is not as loud on social media as the group of crypto liberatios. However, we are a growing silent majority. “Utility” is the key to the future of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.
Disclaimer: The information and/or opinions expressed in this article do not necessarily represent the views or editorial line of Cointelegraph. The information set forth herein should not be taken as financial advice or investment recommendation. All investment and commercial movement involve risks and it is the responsibility of each person to do their due research before making an investment decision.
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