The CEO of Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala Investment Company has said that he doesn’t think bitcoin is a fraud, but remains sitting ‘on the fence’ regarding it.
Khaldoon Al Mubarak, who heads one of the world’s largest sovereign funds, said recently that he didn’t agree with Jamie Dimon, CEO of JPMorgan Chase, who called bitcoin ‘a fraud’ in September. According to Al Mubarak, people should be open-minded when it comes to the cryptocurrency and the technology behind it, reports CNBC.
He said:
I think blockchain, its growth, from the single digits, early double-digits, to astronomical growth, will really depend on how fast you can execute and where you’re going to be able to execute under a regulatory environment that is acceptable.
He added that if it can be cracked it would be ‘an incredible story.’ Yet, despite this, he said that he remains ‘still on the fence’ with it.
Al Mubarak’s comments come at a time when the cryptocurrency market is experiencing record highs. Earlier today it was reported that bitcoin had scaled to $9,700 for the first time. As a result, it has helped to push the digital currency market up to over $300 billion. This rise in value now means that the combined cryptocurrency market is more valuable than Visa, Wells Fargo, and Bank of America.
Many are watching closely to see when the cryptocurrency will hit the $10,000, which some – such as billionaire hedge fund manager Mike Novogratz – of the opinion that it will happen before the end of the year.
Of course, with bitcoin steadily increasing in value there are investment and finance advisors who think that a crash will take place soon. Scott Kelly, CEO of Black Dog Venture Partners, is one who believe that a plunge in value will take place. Earlier this month, he was reported as saying:
A month before the 1987 crash, my cab driver said he started day trading. A month before the real estate crash in 2007 in Arizona, my cab driver said he was getting into flipping real estate. Last week, my Uber driver said he just started trading Bitcoin.
Yet, whether this will happen remains to be seen. For time being, though, the market is experiencing unprecedented heights that could go even higher than it already is.
Tim Draper, venture capital investor, remains confident in where the market is heading. Earlier this month, he said that in five years fiat money would be replaced by cryptocurrencies.
