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The world's largest wealth manager says he's not planning to invest in bitcoin or other crypto assets in the absence of government oversight and at the same time. 39, lack of a clear exit strategy.
2017 was a pivotal year for bitcoin, and we will probably remember it as a tipping point that has transformed Bitcoin's reputation for a curious experience – mainly used by nerds and anti-government activists – into a financial instrument, according to Dan Morehead, CEO of Pantera Capital, will be a component of expected "of a complete financial portfolio.
However, UBS Group AG, the largest wealth manager in the world, does not intend to introduce cryptocurrency into its investment portfolio. Speaking with Bloomberg, Mark Haefele, director of UBS Investments, said the lack of oversight of the ecosystem presented investors with an "unquantifiable risk":
"All that would be needed would be a terrorist incident in the United States funded by bitcoin for the American regulator to intervene much more seriously and act," he said. "It's a risk, an unquantifiable risk, bitcoin that another currency has not."
In addition, questioning the fact that cryptocurrency purchases should even be classified as investments, he stated that companies had no way of developing a strategy of Clear exit to guarantee their profits.
"The thing that always strikes me about these investments without a quote is not really when we get in but when we get out," Haefele said. . "So, how do you know when to come out of a bitcoin investment?"
Even disregarding these factors, Haefele said that bitcoin did not even appear on the UBS investment radar. He added that the cryptocurrency market capitalization of about $ 230 billion was "not even the size of some of the smaller currencies" that UBS would include in its portfolio.
But for an asset that is not on the agenda, UBS speaks a lot about it. In the past month, at least three UBS executives and analysts have criticized the fledgling cryptocurrency industry. Challenging the reports of Goldman Sachs and other companies that indicate that investors are interested in cryptocurrency, UBS CEO Sergio Ermotti stated that He does not think "that there is a desire to take big bets" on bitcoin. Shortly after, UBS published a white paper describing bitcoin as a speculative bubble and a convinced economist said that the imminent launch of bitcoin futures was a reminder tulip bubble in Holland in the 17th century.
Of course, the UBS bearish statements on bitcoin must be considered in their context. Recognizing the potential of blockchain technology, the company has launched its own digital currency project. The " Utility Settlement Currency " is designed to help financial institutions around the world exchange value more effectively than with cash transfers UBS has been working on this project since 2015 and plans a limited deployment for 2018.
Featured image from YouTube / Bloomberg Politics.