The world is familiar with celebrities like Elon Musk, Snoop Dogg, boxer Mike Tyson, and the late John McAfee expressing a strong affinity for cryptocurrencies. However, there's a growing list of accomplished figures in finance who have also adopted cryptocurrency investing.
Upon observing notable financiers who've traditionally leaned towards conventional investments like stocks or real estate, it's quite surprising to see that a considerable number have taken the plunge into the novel investment realm of cryptocurrencies in recent years. Some have opted for this approach as a hedge against the high inflation and instability in the banking sector, while others truly believe in the potential and future of digital assets.
Richard Branson
Richard Branson, a stalwart in the field of cryptocurrencies, was vocal about his faith in Bitcoin as far back as 2016. He predicted Bitcoin's potential to emerge as a successful asset, promising a fresh approach to finance. He consistently advocates for his position as a Bitcoin holder, regularly allocating a portion of his profits to Bitcoin investments.
Branson's enterprise, Virgin Galactic Holdings, which provides space tourism services, accepts Bitcoin as a payment method. To illustrate, back in 2014, the Winklevoss twins paid Virgin Galactic a total of 312.5 BTC for spaceflight tickets.
Moreover, Branson is known for his substantial investment of $30 million in BitPay, a widely-used cryptocurrency processing service.
Steve Wozniak
Apple co-founder and successful entrepreneur of Ukrainian descent, Steve Wozniak, has also voiced his intrigue with digital assets. He has admitted in an interview his regret for not purchasing Bitcoin in its nascent stages due to the then-unripe market. When he finally dived in, he found himself amidst a bear cycle, which led to a drop in Bitcoin's value.
Even after this bumpy investment journey, Wozniak continues to regard Bitcoin as one of the most robust and promising assets out there. He maintains that his fascination with digital assets stems from their mathematical aspects, not from the lure of becoming wealthier. Given Wozniak's known financial stability and his indifference to trend-chasing, this distinction may seem redundant.
From August 2018, Wozniak has been working alongside Equi Capital, a Luxembourg-based investment firm. This partnership entails expanding the company's investment portfolio, in part by investing in crypto assets.
Michael Saylor
MicroStrategy co-founder is well-known for his staunch endorsement of Bitcoin. He's even gone so far as to compare Bitcoin to the air that the economy breathes. Additionally, Saylor has a favorable attitude towards cryptocurrency mining, rejecting the notion that it has a significant and detrimental impact on the environment.
His company, MicroStrategy, has gained recognition for its unique investment strategy that many traditional finance experts might view as somewhat audacious: it directs all discretionary profits towards Bitcoin purchases. Currently, the company holds more than 140,000 BTC (nearly $4 billion at the current rate) and has no plans to cease its accumulation.
Saylor sees Bitcoin as a digital revolution impacting the concepts of money, property, currency, energy, and even matter. He considers the cryptocurrency industry to be in the early stages of its evolution.
Mark Cuban
Mark Cuban, a serial entrepreneur, owner of various tech companies and the NBA team "Dallas Mavericks," views blockchain technology as having a bright future. He equates Bitcoin to gold, considering this digital currency more akin to a form of religion than a typical asset.
In 2017, Cuban revealed his investment strategy. He believes that any spare funds should be promptly invested in Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.
Furthermore, Cuban has been an active participant in the ICO (Initial Coin Offering) of UnikoinGold, a native asset of the esports betting platform Unikrn, a venture in which he himself is an investor.
James Gorman
An Australian-American financier, banker, and the Chief Executive Officer of Morgan Stanley contends that cryptocurrencies are not a fleeting trend. In his view, digital assets have firmly established themselves in the financial market, and the power and efficiency of blockchain technology is undeniable. Notably, Gorman's fund has been actively acquiring shares in the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust, with which it has a long-term partnership.
I don’t think crypto is a fad. I don’t know what the value of Bitcoin should or shouldn’t be. But these things aren’t going away, and the blockchain technology supporting it is obviously very real and powerfulasserts James Gorman
George Soros
Billionaire George Soros, through his Soros Fund Management, once made significant investments in MicroStrategy, thereby becoming a part-owner of the company. Additionally, his investments also favored Marathon Digital, a mining company, and the well-known cryptocurrency bank, Silvergate Bank.
In 2021, Soros's fund verified its investments in Bitcoin. However, the precise number of coins acquired remains undisclosed.