Elliott Management: Cryptocurrencies Are a Brilliant Scam

The vastly different opinions on Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies often lead to some interesting discussions. Most financial experts do not take kindly to this new form of money, though. Elliott Management, a well-known multi-billion dollar hedge fund, claims cryptocurrencies are a “brilliant scam”.

Elliott Management Doesn’t Approve of Cryptocurrencies

There has been a rather interesting shift taking place in the financial sector over the past few months. A growing number of cryptocurrency-related hedge funds have been popping up all over the world. With these investment opportunities, anyone can be exposed to cryptocurrency’s price volatility without having to buy Bitcoin or altcoins directly. It appears this particular business model is only getting more popular.

That doesn’t mean every hedge fund in the world is confident that cryptocurrencies are worth investing in. Some of these funds, such as Elliott Management, are convinced these currencies will eventually disappear and be considered one big scam. In fact, Elliott Management told all of its clients that cryptocurrencies will be viewed as “one of the most brilliant scams in history”. It’s a rather strong opinion, though one that is not exactly surprising at this stage either.

Having such comments come from a US$34 billion hedge fund is both interesting and worrisome at the same time. The hedge fund is seemingly convinced that cryptocurrencies are nothing but a temporary fad which will only cost people money in the long run. This form of money admittedly has a lot of issues which will need to be addressed. According to the hedge fund, cryptocurrencies are nothing but “the marketing power of investors, financiers, and others”. One could argue that applies to nearly all investment opportunities in the financial sector as well.

Moreover, the fund claims that there is no intrinsic value to any of the cryptocurrencies on the market today. Most people are well aware that the value of Bitcoin and altcoins is primarily driven by speculation, hype, and FOMO. That doesn’t mean there is no inherent value to these currencies, yet it does lead to critical comments from financial experts more often than not.

Elliott Management has a bit of a colored history when it comes to Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies. Several years ago, the fund raised concerns over this new form of money. At the time, they assumed cryptocurrencies would eventually disappear. The past few years have proven the hedge fund wrong in many ways, even though the issues raised back in 2013 are still present in 2018. The markets remain incredibly volatile, speculation is still driving the value of most coins, and there is a real chance that people will lose money.

Whether or not the comments made by Elliott Management will fall on deaf ears remains to be seen. There has been a lot of criticism regarding Bitcoin and similar currencies for as long as this industry has existed, and the naysayers have been proven wrong time and time again. All streaks will be broken at some point, though. Calling Bitcoin and its consorts a “brilliant scam” may be a bridge too far, but it’s not all that difficult to see where these comments are coming from either.