Jordan Belfort, known colloquially as the “Wolf of Wall Street”,
has yet again cast doubt on Bitcoin, this time in a video interview with
entrepreneur Patrick Bet-David, posted on Bet-David’s Facebook Jan.
31.
Belfort told Bet-David that he doesn’t believe
Bitcoin (BTC) itself is a scam, referring to it
as the creation of “financial anarchists”. He does think, however,
that the way the cryptocurrency was built is a “perfect storm for
manipulation”.
Belfort believes that the rising price of BTC can be
attributed to wild speculation because of what he sees as improper
use of the cryptocurrency:
“Something [BTC] was designed to be used as a
currency, and it’s being used as an investment vehicle [...] As a
currency, Bitcoin is no more useful at $20,000 or $100.”
Belfort spoke negatively about the potential for
manipulating crypto markets due to the thinness of the market, specifically
referencing the case of Olaf Carlson-Wee, an early adopter of BTC
who was paid in crypto when working at Coinbase in 2013.
According to Belfort, Carlson-Wee sold all of his
Bitcoin, bought Bitcoin Cash (BCH) and then gave a televised
interview saying that BTC was dead and that Bitcoin Cash was the
future, causing its price to skyrocket.
CT could not confirm that Carlson-Wee ever mentioned
dumping all of his BTC for BCH, although he did give an interview
to CNBC about Ethereum that some Reddit users misconstrued
as Carlson-Wee moving all his holdings to Ether.
Belfort predicts that while Bitcoin is, in his words,
a “wolf in sheep’s clothing,” it also “might go to $50,000”
before what he is certain will be its eventual fall to zero.
In September 2017, Belfort had said that Bitcoin was problematic because
of the potential ease for hackers to steal virtual currency. In
October, he commented that ICOs were the “biggest scams ever”.
Belfort told Bet-David he had invested “not a penny” in
cryptocurrency.
By Molly Jane Zuckerman