The argument that bitcoin is or will one day be better and more widely used than gold has received additional support from Social Capital CEO Chamath Palihapitiya. In a recent interview, he asserted that BTC has already replaced the precious metal, and its market cap will soon readjust to show it.
Bitcoin replaced gold
Over the past few years, the bitcoin versus gold debate has grown outside of the cryptocurrency community, with many prominent names from other financial industries weighing in on it. While some, like Peter Schiff, continue to reject BTC as a valid competitor to the yellow metal, others, like Michael Saylor, Anthony Scaramucci, and Steve Wozniak, see more merit in the cryptocurrency.
Chamath Palihapitiya, the venture capitalist, engineer and founder of Social Capital, seems to belong to the second camp. Speaking to Delivering Alpha, he said it was hard for him to provide a specific price tag for BTC, even though he previously predicted that it will reach $200,000, but outlined a significant milestone that bitcoin has achieved in his eyes.
“Bitcoin, I think, has effectively replaced gold. And he will continue to do so. ” As such, he added that BTC’s market capitalization “is just going to grow.”
Palihapitiya has previously praised the cryptocurrency and its merits while urging investors to allocate at least 1% of their portfolios to it. Additionally, he said his introduction to the asset was roughly a decade ago, and buying portions of it has become his “best investment bet.”
Sold all Tesla shares
Palihapitiya was also known for his support for Elon Musk’s electric vehicle giant, Tesla. However, he recently revealed that he has disposed of his entire position “in the last year or so” to fund other investment projects.
“I don’t have an endless supply of capital. So when I have these ideas, the money has to come from somewhere.”
In the same interview, the CEO of Social Capital also expressed his concerns about rising inflation rates. To prepare for the already evident consequences, he has focused on accumulating hypergrowth companies, cash-generating businesses, and a few assets that lack correlation with those two, such as bitcoin.
“In an inflationary environment, in my very simplistic view of the world, I want to own three things: hypergrowth, because hypergrowth can always out-run inflation, cash-generative assets, and then I want to own non-correlated assets.”
