It's such a good scam, that he's bullish
Paul Singer of Elliott Management is a vulture. He's perhaps the most aggressive, blood-thirst fund manager alive. He spent a decade suing the Argentine government and even seized an Argentine navy ship in Ghana during the fight. He eventually won the battle and made $2 billion along the way.
He's ruthless.
So ruthless that he doesn't care if he's making money on a scam. He will invest anyway and dump it before the bubble pops.
That's what he thinks is happening in Bitcoin.
"When the history is written, cryptocurrencies will likely be described as one of the most brilliant scams in history," he wrote in a note dated Jan 26 and obtained by Business Insider.
He criticizes the argument about the limited supply of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies because of frequent forking and new coin creation.
"We all laugh at primitive tribes which used large stones (or pigs) as currency. Well, laugh as you will, but a stone or a healthy pig is something. Cryptocurrencies are nothing except the marketing power of inventors, financiers and others who love the idea of buying a black box (which is obviously empty) for the price of a Kia and dreaming that it will turn into a Mercedes. There have been times recently when this dream has materialized within hours. This is not just a bubble. It is not just a fraud. It is perhaps the outer limit, the ultimate expression, of the ability of humans to seize upon ether and hope to ride it to the stars."
Elliott manages more than $34 billion and returned 8.7% last year.
Singer isn't buying Bitcoin but his way of looking at Bitcoin is instructive. There's nothing wrong with buying something you don't believe in if you think it's going up.
What you're really trading on is what others believe the value of something is. A good story can be a lie, but it's still a good story.
