Billionaire David Rubenstein, co-founder and co-director of wealth manager Carlyle Group, was previously skeptical about Bitcoin (BTC). But for Rubenstein that has really changed now. He is convinced that Bitcoin will not disappear.
Is Wall Street’s Interest in Bitcoin Real?
He explains this in an interview with Bloomberg. “People scoff at bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, but now even the established order, aka BlackRock, wants to launch an exchange-traded fund (ETF) for it.” ETFs are government-approved. If the giant BlackRock is willing to provide an ETF for it, Bitcoin might not go away after all,” Rubenstein said.
The moderator asked him if Rubenstein’s company, the Carlyle Group, was willing to mine Bitcoin. That’s not the case, but he says he regrets not getting in when the price was around $100. Galaxy Digital CEO Mike Novogratz, for example, bought around this price. Rubenstein emphasizes that his colleague is now making a sizeable profit, even though the price of Bitcoin has halved in two years.
He also believes the demand for Bitcoin is real and not just a way for Wall Street to make money. The US government and especially the Democratic Party and the top of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) are very skeptical about Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.
According to the investor, however, there is great demand outside the USA. People want a means of payment that the state has little control over. BlackRock’s decision to apply for an ETF would only confirm this.
SEC has The crypto war is already lost after the XRP lawsuit
He further stated that SEC Director Gary Gensler is not a fan of cryptocurrencies. We have practically factual evidence of this. Earlier this year, he stated that the world doesn’t need Bitcoin and crypto at all. According to Gensler, traditional fiat currencies will suffice.
But Rubenstein says the SEC failed to convince the judge that Ripple’s cryptocurrency, XRP, is an unregistered security. In fact, the policymaker could not have already produced this argument, which could mean that the SEC has less influence over the crypto world than you might think.