Billionaire investor Chamath Palihapitiya told CNBC on Thursday bitcoin could soar to $200,000. The Social Capital CEO said he doesn’t know exactly when bitcoin will reach this price, but “it’s going there,” and could happen in five or ten years.
His comments come as bitcoin roars past new records. . The cryptocurrency’s price has gained over $10,000 in the last week. Palihapitiya explained that bitcoin is surging because more investors are realizing that national leaders are untrustworthy, and they need to add a hedge to their portfolios. His interview was just a day after a violent mob of Trump supporters breached the Capitol.
“Every time you see all of this stuff happening it just reminds you that wow, our leaders are not as trustworthy and reliable as they used to be,” Palihapitiya said. “And so just in case, we really do need to have some kind of insurance we can keep under our pillow that gives us some access to an uncorrelated hedge.”
He said bitcoin will “eventually transition to something much more important,” but for now, it will remain as a portfolio hedge.
“The fabric of society is frayed and until we figure out how to make it better it’s time to just have a little schmuck insurance on the side,” said Palihapitiya.
Palihapitiya has preached about bitcoin since he began investing in 2012, a few years after the coin’s inception. In 2017, the investor said that bitcoin’s price could reach $1 million before 2037 .
“Can you play the clip in 2012 and [2013] when it was at 200 and everybody was laughing at me on CNBC every time I would talk about bitcoin?” Palihapitiya asked CNBC’s Scott Wapner on Thursday.
