Billionaire investment banker Ken Moelis has compared the cryptocurrency era to the gold rush of 1848, telling Bloomberg he’s monitoring the crypto space in hopes of discovering new opportunities.
Moelis, the founder of investment banking firm Moelis & Company, revealed an intention to explore and invest in digital assets during a Bloomberg Deals summit on Tuesday.
“Maybe on the personal side, definitely on the business side, we are focused on having expertise,” he told the outlet with regards to potential crypto investment. “It’s a big market, there’s a lot of capital in there, there’s a lot of projects.”
The 63-year-old noted he is still cautious, however.
Reason For Caution
Of course, there’s every reason to be cautious given the way the crypto market could be “manipulated” – although it’s not unlike other markets, where prices could either soar or plunge on the whim of someone considered to be influential in the pertinent space.
Bitcoin is still recovering from Elon Musk’s social media activity. What’s more, most of the crypto assets on the market have followed a downward trend. Just this week, former United States President Donald Trump referred to Bitcoin as a scam and a threat to the dollar. But there are advocates who have made names for themselves in traditional investing and entrepreneurship who have taken a liking to Bitcoin and crypto in general.
The Gold Rush Comparison
Bridgewater Associates founder Ray Dalio recently revealed being in ownership of Bitcoin while a recent job listing suggests Amazon is looking to get involved too. PayPal has been allowing crypto purchases from its platform for several months now and has also outlined plans to let users withdraw to wallets of their choice.
Galaxy Digital completed the first billion-dollar takeover this year when it agreed to buy BitGo Inc.; Goldman Sachs Group and JPMorgan Chase & Co. were involved in helping Coinbase go public this year.
“It’s like the gold rush of 1848, a lot of people didn’t know if there was gold in the ground, but Levi’s made a business selling jeans and Wells Fargo made a banking business,” Moelis added. “I believe our business is selling the picks and the shovels, so we have to know what people want. What picks and what shovels they need, what tools they need to be successful.”
The cryptocurrency space has come to a point where it simply cannot be ignored by the world’s biggest companies and business owners. Making it even more attractive is the fact that steps are being taken to clean up the mining process where proof-of-work coins are concerned.
