‘Thankfully’ my son owns Bitcoin, says $140B asset management CEO

Howard Marks hints that he is becoming the latest Bitcoin naysayer to change his tune completely in a new memo to investors of Oaktree Capital.

Bitcoin (BTC) at $34,000 may have gained a new convert after billionaire investor Howard Marks admitted that he needed to change his “skeptical view.”

In his latest investor memo dated Jan. 11, Marks, who is co-chairman and co-founder of the $140 billion Oaktree Capital Group, noted that while he was critical of Bitcoin during its 2017 bull run, his son had “thankfully” bought in. 

Marks on crypto: Do you own research

“Back in 2017, my memo ‘There They Go Again… Again’ included a section on cryptocurrencies in which I stated a high level of skepticism. This view has been a subject of much discussion for me and  Andrew, who is quite positive on Bitcoin and several others and thankfully owns a meaningful amount for our family,” the memo reads.

“While the story is far from fully written, the least I can say is that my skeptical view has not borne out to date.”

The past few months has become a notable for U-turns on Bitcoin’s merits. As Cointelegraph reported, figures from investors to banks have challenged their bearish prognoses on the cryptocurrency, some even pledging to expose their portfolios to include it.

Marks did not make a similar commitment, but accepted the need to at least examine cryptocurrency and assess its potential.

“The nature of innovation generally is such that, in the beginning, only a few believe in something that seems absurd when compared to the deeply entrenched status quo,” he wrote.

“When innovations work, it’s only later that what first seemed crazy becomes consensus. Without attaining real knowledge of what’s going on and attempting to fully understand the positive case, it’s impossible to have a sufficiently informed view to warrant the dismissiveness that many of us exhibit in the face of innovation.” 

Warren Buffett next?

Reactions to Marks were nonetheless more than favorable, given his previous reputation as a steadfast Bitcoin detractor.

“Really awesome to see billionaire Howard Marks talking so favorably about #Bitcoin!” Preston Pysh of The Investor’s Podcast Network tweeted in response to the memo.

Fellow investment guru Lyn Alden, herself a public proponent of Bitcoin, even suggested that Mark’s change in stance would lead stalwart critic Warren Buffett to cryptocurrency.

2021 thus leaves Bitcoin’s remaining outspoken bears in an rapidly decreasing minority. Among them remains gold bug Peter Schiff, whose outright dismissal of Bitcoin continues to cause outrage on social media and beyond.

“Very few institutional investors are buying #Bitcoin,” he claimed on Monda.

“It just that those few that are buying are extremely vocal about their positions. They need to convince others to buy to push up the price so they can sell. The financial media also gives them a platform to talk their books.”

Tyler Winklevoss, co-founder of exchange Gemini, subsequently called Schiff’s words “completely false.”