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'I don’t think it can be stopped': Anthony Scaramucci breaks down why he sees a bright future for bitcoin — and explains why governments 'hate' it

FILE PHOTO - Anthony Scaramucci, Founder and Co-Managing Partner at SkyBridge Capital attends the session "The Growth Illusion" during the Annual Meeting 2016 of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland on January 20, 2016. REUTERS/Ruben Sprich/File Photo
FILE PHOTO - Anthony Scaramucci during the Annual Meeting of the WEF in Davos Thomson Reuters

  • Anthony Scaramucci, founder of $9.5 billion SkyBridge Capital, paints a sanguine view surrounding the future of digital assets in society. 
  • He also explains why governments "hate" bitcoin, and provides a historical anecdote to back this thesis.
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In the midst of a meteoric rise in 2017, it seemed like everyone under the sun was talking about bitcoin. 

But after an 80%-plus peak-to-trough crash in 2018, those who thought that they'd be driving around a new Lamborghini in a few months are probably investing in a new pair of sneakers.

Still, not everyone is bearish on the controversial cryptocurrency — and one prominent managing partner of a multi-billion dollar investment firm thinks it has staying power.

"There's something here," said Anthony Scaramucci, founder of $9.5 billion SkyBridge Capital, in Off the Chain, a digital assets podcast. "There's value to the notion that I can exchange value with you, confidentially — and I can exchange it through a mechanism that looks very secure."

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This is a far cry from the plethora of well-renowned investors that have publicly dismissed bitcoin as nothing more than a farce. In fact, the world's most famous investor, Warren Buffett, called bitcoin "a gambling device," and "rat poison squared."

But Scaramucci is unphased. And he thinks the blockchain — the underlying technology which Bitcoin relies on to function — will drive the cryptocurrency's prosperity into the future. 

"The blockchain is going to get tighter, and more reformed, and more secure," he added. "People are going to have more confidence in it — and I don't think it can be stopped."

To further his point, he cites Jamie Dimon's — CEO of JPMorgan Chase — recent walkback of the comments he made dismissing Bitcoin as a "fraud." 

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"He's caught in a generational blind spot," he said. 

Read more: 'Not investing in China is very risky': Billionaire investor Ray Dalio explains why he's still all in despite recent trade-war fireworks

Although Scaramucci is bullish on the future and longevity of bitcoin, he still has his doubts. And his worries stem from politics and government intervention.

"The governments hate it because the governments like manipulating the currency," he added. "Political leaders are going to want to annihilate digital currencies because they will put to risk the manipulation that political leaders had been able to do over the last 100 or 150 years of our manufacturing society."

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This is a valid point — and Scaramucci backs up his call with a historical anecdote where extraordinary action was used to quell public uproar during the Great Depression. 

In 1933, Franklin D. Roosevelt took the US off of the gold standard, and required all gold coins and certificates to be turned in for currency. This occurred because investors fervently lost faith in the US dollar, and were hoarding gold in the wake of the depression. Roosevelt needed to stop the panic, and was able to do so through this extraordinary measure — or, as some may label it, manipulation.

Due to bitcoin's fixed supply, the currency is unable to be manipulated. And in the event a similar economic downturn occurs — and bitcoin is at a point where it's widely accepted as a means of exchange — governments won't be able to provide the kind of swift-relief necessary to subdue a panic.

"My conclusion, after looking at this thing for a year-plus, is that I think it's going to be here — I think it's sustainable," he said.

Investing Bitcoin
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