We all know the story: 10 years ago, the Bitcoin sphere was nothing but a tiny group of cypherpunks, anarchists, and people who wanted to buy cannabis on the Silk Road. Now, crypto is almost unrecognizable, with major banks, financial institutions, governments, university endowments, and legendary investors announcing initial forays into Bitcoin and crypto. The following are 10 of the biggest Bitcoin converts:
Jack Dorsey
The unconventional and outspoken CEO of Twitter and Square has been vocal about his support for Bitcoin since 2014, when Square's formerly-named "SquareCash" app (now "Cash") began allowing merchants to accept Bitcoin as payment. In 2018, he doubled down, introducing Bitcoin trading to Cash for all users. He's spoken about this in depth on the Joe Rogan Podcast, saying he believes Bitcoin will probably be the sole global currency by 2030, and has also gone on record recently stating he regularly buys $10,000 of Bitcoin weekly. Talk about conviction.
Mark Cuban
The self-made tech billionaire, Dallas Mavericks team owner, "Shark Tank" Shark, and outspoken businessman was initially very critical of crypto as a whole. That was until June of this year, when he said he now sees Bitcoin as a store of value and would gladly use and embrace Bitcoin as a medium of exchange if it becomes more fungible. For now, though, Cuban has said he has at least $130 USD in Bitcoin (received from transactions). With Bitcoin's layer 2 scaling solution upgrade to the "Lightning Network" not far off, we might be seeing a major declaration from Cuban about a large initial position.
Paul Tudor Jones
Perhaps the biggest macro investment news surrounding Bitcoin this year was legendary traditional Wall Street investor Paul Tudor Jones announcing his macro investment thesis of Bitcoin as a store of value and monetary hedge against inflation. This earth-shaking statement, viewed by many as validation of institutional interest in crypto, was punctuated by Jones' assertion that he allocated 1-2% of his multi-billion dollar portfolio into Bitcoin, resulting in a 9-figure investment in Bitcoin's future.
Robert Kiwosaki
The "Rich Dad, Poor Dad" author and real estate investor became a Bitcoin believer in late 2017 when he went on record saying he believes sound money assets like gold and Bitcoin will continue to appreciate over time thanks to their limited supply and strong fundamentals. He believes "old guys" like himself, Warren Buffett, and others are being phased out due to their inability or unwillingness to embrace technology or change. He's gone on record saying that the "US Dollar is dying," and that Bitcoin will replace the US Dollar and gold, and that Bitcoin is a better inflationary hedge than gold or even real estate.
Peter Thiel
The PayPal Co-Founder and early Facebook investor has been a Bitcoin supporter since 2017 when he stated he believed it was "very underestimated." His VC firm made a large BTC purchase in early 2017, investing as much as $15-20 million directly in Bitcoin. He continues to invest in crypto-related companies such as exchanges and payment portals like BitPanda and energy-focused mining operations.
Jim Cramer
Mad Money's Jim Cramer is a long-time stock market investor and commentator, infamous for touting Bear Sterns days before its collapse and bankruptcy in 2008. Despite his aversion to tech, he recently appeared on the Pomp Podcast where host Anthony Pompliano compared Bitcoin's properties to that of gold, of which Cramer is a big fan. Cramer's exclaimed his openness and willingness to include Bitcoin to his portfolio as a complement to his inflation hedge segment, allocating as much as 1% of his (substantial) portfolio.
Ashton Kutcher
While most know him as a film and television actor, Kutcher (stage name) considers that his day job, and otherwise primarily spends his time and efforts on his venture capital firm Sound Ventures, and building a handful of other tech companies. Some notable investments have included PayPal, Uber, a blockchain-based payments company, an esports gambling blockchain company called Unikrn, and Ripple's XRP at one point. In fact, while speaking at an event in 2013, Kutcher stated that he saw huge potential and benefits from blockchain applications and Bitcoin's value.
Chamath Palihapitiya
Famed Social Capital founder and Silicon Valley fund manager Chamath Pahilapitiya, who has made a fortune investing in early-stage tech companies such as Palantir, Slack, and Box, made his first Bitcoin purchase in 2013 when he, at the time, controlled more than 1% of all Bitcoin. He remains incredibly bullish as a passive, long-term investor, and holds that Bitcoin will be the biggest and best winner of any crypto asset over time, potentially seeing a $1 million value per BTC in the next 20 years.
