By
Bena Ilyas
April 18th, 2024
An anonymous investor bet Bitcoin will surpass Berkshire Hathaway’s stock by 2023, which means Bitcoin will have to appreciate by more than 40 times by that time. If the investor is right, he will win US $888 million.
Only the lazy would not predict the price of Bitcoin, but now this prediction becomes too bullish. One so-called crypto expert asked prominent bookmaker Tom Waterhouse to bet AUD $8.5 million (US $6.3 million) that the price of Bitcoin will surpass that of Berkshire Hathaway’s shares and exceed $280,000 by the year 2023. If successful, he will win AUD $1.2 billion (US $888 million).
Big Bet: Well known Crypto expert has just requested a bet of $8.5m AUD to win $1.2bn that a Bitcoin will exceed the price of a Berkshire Hathaway share (c.$280k) by 2023. Have put him in touch with large syndicate – hope he can get set! pic.twitter.com/C20AHzH2k9
— Tom Waterhouse (@tomwaterhouse) July 11, 2018
Berkshire Hathaway Inc. is an American multinational conglomerate holding company headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska. Since 2016, the company has acquired large holdings in the major US airline carriers, and currently owns a diverse range of businesses including confectionery, retail, railroads, home furnishings, encyclopedias, manufacturers of vacuum cleaners, jewelry sales, newspaper publishing, manufacture and distribution of uniforms, and several regional electric and gas utilities.
Currently, the market price of the NYSE-listed Class A shares of Berkshire Hathaway makes up more than US$288,000. The current price of Bitcoin is $6,287, according to CoinMarketCap. So, Bitcoin will have to increase by more than 40 times in the next couple of years.
Berkshire Hathaway is known for its control and leadership by Warren Buffett, who serves as chairman and chief executive, and Charlie Munger, the company’s vice chairman. It is interesting that they both have a negative attitude towards digital currencies, Bitcoin in particular, and have expressed their dislike several times.
Buffett has previously called BTC a “bubble”, “of no value”, and “rat poison”. In 2014, he warned investors to stay away from this currency. “It is a mirage basically”, he insisted then. In April of this year, Buffett stated buying bitcoin “is not investing,” and those who buy cryptocurrencies are merely speculating. In May, during Berkshire Hathaway’s annual meeting, Buffett claimed bitcoin isn’t a productive asset like land or corporate shares, that’s why it has no intrinsic value. Moreover, Buffett predicted “bad ending” for Bitcoin.
Charlie Munger critisizes Bitcoin as well, calling it a “noxious poison” and stating that cryptocurrency trading is “dementia”. He also commented that cryptocurrency investing is “like somebody else is trading turds and you decide you can’t be left out”.
The bet is not the first to be made against Berkshire Hathaway concerning BTC. In 2015, the owner of Bitbet placed a 1,000 BTC bet not too dissimilar from the one made by this investor, but then it turned out to be a dud.
Among the most famous Bitcoin predictions is one made in July 2017, when John McAfee, internet security expert, said that Bitcoin would reach $500,000 by 2020. Hedge Fund CEO Phillip Nunn believes that Bitcoin will reach $60,000 this year. Well, time will show.