What do Vladimir Putin, Mark Cuban, Jim Cramer, Martin Shkreli, Tim Pool, and Lauren Southern all have in common?
They're all talking about crypto-currency.
With Bitcoin and Ethereum hitting all time highs the past few days, crypto-currency buzz has been all over the mainstream media. Here are a few notable figures that were talking about Bitcoin, Ethereum and other cryptos this week.
Vladimir Putin
Vitalik Buterin attended an Economic Forum in St. Petersburg Russia last week and in attendance was the Russian President himself, Vladimir Putin. According to Bloomberg, Buterin met with the Russian President on the sidelines and supported his plans to build contacts with local partners to implement blockchain technology in Russia.
Buterin later posted on Reddit that the conversation wasn't recorded and that it was private. Very interesting. You can view the Reddit thread here.
Mark Cuban
Mark Cuban, entrepreneur, owner of the Mavericks, and one of the sharks on Shark Tank, offered this warning on Bitcoin the other day:
When asked what his holding amount is, he shared his portfolio:
Jim Cramer
Mad Money Man himself said on CNBC that, "it's possible bitcoin could reach $1 million one day". He didn't say when and who knows what the value of $1 million will be at the time.
He further goes on to say some not-so positive uses for Bitcoin and why the price was going up:
The European Banks are frantically trying to buy them to pay off the ransomware. It's a short-term way to pay off the bad guys.
Ouch. Cramer is talking about the WannaCry ransomware attack, where the attackers demanded the ransom to be paid in Bitcoin.
Martin Shkreli
"Pharma-Bro" investor Martin Shkreli recently talked about Bitcoin in his Finance YouTube series. He has never talked in depth about Bitcoin but had this to say about it in the video:
We have to talk about Bitcoin because everyone ask me every damn week and its been a long time coming. I've spent a lot of time reading about Bitcoin in the past month, secretly.
Love him or hate him, Martin Shkreli does have some insight into the market. The guy ran a hedge fund at 26 years old and has some very fascinating YouTube videos on stock valuations.
Tim Pool
Tim Pool is an American journalist who gained notoriety for covering the 2011 Occupy Wall Street protests for 21-hours straight. He reports using his cell phone and social media for live broadcasting.
Pool recently tweeted that he had bought some Ethereum and that he will be buying more and holding it.
Interestingly, Bitcoin entrepreneur Charlie Shrem had this to say in reply to Tim Pool:
Not sure if it was a joke or if he was talking about Bitcoin.
Lauren Southern
Conservative journalist Lauren Southern made a YouTube video giving a brief explanation on what cyrpto-currency is. She gives a nice overview in general and the Libertarian benefits and aspects of crypto-currency.
Image Sources:
Mark Cuban: http://www.cnbc.com/2014/10/22/billionaire-cuban-to-gop-forget-the-social-issues.html
Tim Pool: https://www.youtube.com/user/Timcasts
Lauren Southern: https://twitter.com/Lauren_Southern
Ugh, it's dismaying to see Cramer on this list. He's been a contrarian indicator, and ...well, "out there". I feel he's what you'd get if you gave MSNBC the South Park "Sexy Action News" Treatment:
His analysis is that Bitcoin is rising/will moon on banks hedging against WannaCry style attacks. Rather ridiculous.
It is a pretty ridiculous assumption but he is a media guy and I think the business media still has the WannaCry attacks still on the back of their minds. Unfortunately, they are pushing that expanding blockchain companies = more cyber attacks.
Hah! Yes, Cramer is completely and 100% only good for entertainment value.
Disclaimer: I am just a bot trying to be helpful.