Now that bitcoin has cracked the $100,000-per-token milestone, you’re probably getting texts (or sending them) asking whether it’s too late to get in and fielding the classic taxi driver conversations about crypto.
If you’ve been paying attention during #cryptocurrencies' ’, you know that the rise has been fueled by two factors: the introduction of spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds and Donald Trump’s election win.
$BTC
Along with the price gains, the usual cast of characters has returned to tout the value of crypto. Here, then, is a handy guide to some of the biggest players and their perspectives.
The fanatics
Many of the fanatics refer to the dollar as “fiat currency,” calling bitcoin “the future of money,” refusing to acknowledge any risk whatsoever with investing in crypto, and even invoking a sort of blind faith.
A few examples: #MicroStrategy" (MSTR) executive chairman Michael Saylor, Ark Invest founder, CEO & chief investment officer Cathie Wood, venture capitalist Marc Andreessen, and a large crop of Extremely Online influencers who are less well known outside the cryptoverse.
"You may not know the applications [for bitcoin], but there are applications. MicroStrategy makes a lot of money by holding that digital property," Saylor told us Thursday. "We're generating massive amounts of shareholder value from that. So you don't have to understand how we do it. You just need to hold your bitcoin and let us drive."
#Saylor take the wheel.
The opportunists
Mostly veterans of the financial industry, opportunists got on the crypto train well before its current cycle. They’re generally not bitcoin maximalists (like some of the fanatics), and they retain their trader mentality when discussing crypto — including the recognition that prices fall.
A few examples: SkyBridge founder and managing partner Anthony Scaramucci, Galaxy Digital founder and CEO Michael Novogratz. (You might well ask, “Doesn’t the guy with a cryptocurrency tattoo qualify as a fanatic?” Fair, but he has been clear that the tattoo is a good reminder to be humble in investing).
The converts
Much like religious converts, these individuals have become some of the most devoted, and most influential, figures in the industry.
Examples: President-elect Donald Trump. It’s easy to forget now (considering being a crypto ally was such a cornerstone of his campaign), but Trump hasn’t always been a fan. As recently as 2021, he told Fox Business that investing in crypto is “potentially a disaster waiting to happen.” Contrast that with his message when bitcoin hit $100,000: "CONGRATULATIONS BITCOINERS!!!” Another example: BlackRock chairman and CEO Larry Fink, who went from “proud skeptic” to his firm operating the biggest spot-bitcoin ETF. That alignment of interests might put him in the “Opportunist” category, but these are loose terms with considerable overlap.
The holdouts
Vibe, as perceived by the industry: “Old man yells at cloud.”
Examples: Citadel founder and CEO Ken Griffin, who said at this week’s New York Times Dealbook Summit, “What I don't care for about crypto is, what problem does it solve for our economy? ... What problem does it solve?” Although he did say, “It may have a future.” JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon has consistently belittled crypto, even as his bank introduced crypto-related services and uses blockchain, the technology that underpins bitcoin. In January, he seemed to be sick of talking about it.
It seems clear that we won’t be getting a whole lot of holdouts in charge of anything crypto-related under the Trump administration.
But knowing which pew in the Church of Bitcoin various incoming officials are sitting in might be a meaningful difference between letting crypto do its thing and giving it a boost.
Genius Crypto is the host of Market Domination on Coindatacap.