Hedge Fund Billionaire Bill Ackman: “Crypto Is Here To Stay”
Following the collapse of FTX, a large portion of the community is working to rebuild its faith in the sector. Bill Ackman’s crypto conviction comes at this time.
Despite the recent collapse of the FTX cryptocurrency exchange and the market upheaval that followed it, billionaire investor and hedge fund manager Bill Ackman claims he is still optimistic about cryptocurrencies.
The CEO and founder of hedge fund management company Pershing Square Capital Management said in a Twitter thread on November 20 that he thinks “crypto is here to stay” despite recent setbacks but that there has to be more control and “fraudulent individuals” removed from the industry.
American billionaire Bill Ackman most recently demanded that New York City’s restrictions are loosened and regulatory impediments removed to make the city a centre for the cryptocurrency industry. He also invests directly in several initiatives related to cryptocurrencies.
“I think crypto is here to stay, and with proper oversight and regulation, it has the potential to benefit society greatly and grow the global economy,” he said.
However, Ackman said that the technology advances from the previous in terms of its capacity to support fraud, much as the creation of the telephone and the internet:
“The problem with crypto is that unethical promoters can create tokens simply to facilitate pump and dump schemes. It may, in fact, be that the vast majority of crypto coins are used for fraudulent purposes rather than for building legitimate businesses.”
According to Ackman, these “fraudulent actors” may be stopped with the help of industry leaders exercising effective oversight:
“All legitimate participants in the crypto ecosystem should therefore be highly incentivized to expose and eliminate fraudulent actors as they greatly increase the risk of regulatory intervention that will set back the positive potential impact of crypto for generations.”
In addition, the investor added that after being a “crypto sceptic” at first, he now believes that it has “the potential to greatly benefit society and grow the global economy” he said, adding:
“I was initially a crypto sceptic [but] I have come to believe that crypto can enable the formation of useful businesses and technologies that [before now] could not be created.”
“The ability to issue a token to incentivize participants in a venture is a powerful lever in accessing a global workforce to advance a project,” he added.
Ackman said that “sensible regulation and oversight” will be essential to advance the technology.
The latest FTX collapse and the hedge fund manager’s tweet are related.
Ackman reportedly tweeted a commendation for Sam Bankman-Fried, the former CEO of FTX, for taking responsibility for his errors but afterwards removed the message.
