Billionaire investor and business magnate George Soros is set to start trading cryptocurrencies soon, despite calling them a bubble back in January. According to Bloomberg, the investment fund founded by the legendary investor is preparing to dive into the crypto world.
Adam Fisher, who oversees global macroeconomic investments for the New York-based Soros Fund Management, recently revealed he gained internal approval to trade cryptocurrencies. The approval, he said, came sometime in the past few months.
The go-ahead is notable as George Soros, while speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos earlier this year, bashed cryptocurrencies by implying they allow dictators to create nest eggs abroad. At the time, he said:
“Bitcoin is not a currency. A currency is supposed to be a stable store of value. And a currency that can fluctuate twenty five percent in a day can’t be used, for instance, to pay wages because wages could drop twenty five percent in a day. So, it’s a speculation based on a misunderstanding.”
Soros is notably no longer overseeing the day-to-day operations at Soros Fund Management, meaning he won’t be trading cryptocurrencies himself. Whether he was involved in the firm’s decision to trade cryptocurrencies is unclear.
The billionaire is, nevertheless, still linked to cryptocurrencies. His firm has amassed a large stake in crypto-friendly discount e-commerce company Overstock.com late last year, making it its third-biggest shareholder. Overstock has been supporting bitcoin for years, and last year started accepting various cryptocurrencies. The company has even planned to launch its own cryptocurrency exchange.
Despite now being allowed to trade cryptocurrencies, Fisher hasn’t made any moves yet, as he is still weighing his options. The go-ahead also comes at a time in which most cryptocurrencies are enduring a months-long bearish trend that’s taken bitcoin down from a $19,000 all-time high to $6,600 at press time.
The Soros Management Fund
Soros’ management fund reportedly started in 1969. The fund currently manages over $26 billion in assets, and became famous for its bets against the British Pound before the Black Wednesday of 1992, when the UK dropped out of the European Exchange Rate Mechanism (ERM).
Soros’ fund’s actions helped crash the British Pound, effectively earning the billionaire the nickname “The Man Who Broke the Bank of England.” The whole ordeal saw Soros make $1 billion, as he shorted the pound.
