Nigel Green, chief executive of one of the world’s largest financial advisory and fintech organisations said that he has sold half of his bitcoin holdings that reached a new record high of $24,661 on Christmas Day.
The deVere CEO, one of the first high-profile cryptocurrency advocates, said that bitcoin, with its market value now at around $452 bln, should be treated like a mature investment.
“That’s to say, where possible, it’s better to sell high and re-buy in the dips,” Green said.
“The steady gains in the price of Bitcoin has made the digital currency the top performing asset of 2020, up over 200%. As such, I felt the time was right for profit-taking.”
The deVere CEO clarified that his decision to sell “was not due to a lack of belief in Bitcoin, or the concept of digital currencies – it’s profit-taking now to buy more later.
“Indeed, more than ever, I believe that the future of money is cryptocurrencies.”
As Bitcoin surged past $20,000 for the first time last week Green noted that as some of the world’s biggest institutions – amongst them multinational payment companies and Wall Street giants – “pile ever more into crypto, bringing with them their enormous expertise and capital, this in turn, swells consumer interest.”
He added that with governments continuing to support economies and increase spending due to the pandemic, investors are increasingly going to look to Bitcoin as a hedge against the “legitimate inflation concern.”
In earlier comments, Green had said that inherent traits of cryptocurrencies are ever-more attractive.
“These characteristics include that they’re borderless, making them perfectly suited to a globalised world of commerce, trade and people; that they are digital, making them an ideal match to the increasing digitalisation of our world; and that demographics are on the side of cryptocurrencies as younger people are more likely to embrace them than older generations.”
In addition, a poll carried out by the deVere Group found that nearly three-quarters of high-net-worth individuals will be invested in cryptocurrencies before the end of 2022.
The deVere CEO concluded that many traders will sell record high prices as an opportunity to sell, “so we can expect some pullback on prices in the near-term.
“But the longer-term price trajectory for Bitcoin is, I believe, undoubtedly upwards.”
