The The Dave Ramsey Show, a financial program on the air since 1992, has recently changed its opinion on Bitcoin. The situation has caught the attention of the cryptocurrency community, who have been amused by the case.
This is because the gurus claimed that the cryptocurrency would go to zero in 2014. At that time, Bitcoin was being traded for around US$ 560.
However, now that Bitcoin is worth US$ 103,000, they have started recommending the cryptocurrency to diversify the portfolio.
During this interval, Bitcoin appreciated by more than 18,000%, that is, it would have transformed every 1,000 dollars invested into US$ 181,000.
In the Brazilian currency, the gains would be even greater due to its devaluation against the dollar in the last decade. For every R$ 1,000 invested, the reward would be R$ 445,000, about 44,000%.
Bitcoin is worthless, said the program’s main presenter in 2014
In a video published on February 28, 2014, more than 11 years ago, Dave Ramsey answered whether Bitcoin was a good investment. On that occasion, the personal finance expert explained that investing in other currencies would be like betting against the American dollar.
“A currency only has value to the extent that another person wants it”, said Ramsey, noting that he had “some bills with Saddam Hussein’s face on them” with him.
“Nobody wants that money, except as a reminder, a souvenir, I can’t take that to the gas station and buy gas.”
On that date, Bitcoin was trading at around US$ 560, operating in a sharp drop after the bankruptcy of the Mt. Gox exchange.
“And today it came out that one of the big Bitcoin exchanges went bankrupt. So Bitcoin is very unstable at the moment and it doesn’t seem like it’s going to work out”, continued the guru. “And what is Bitcoin? Bitcoin is a currency on the internet. It has no value […]. Therefore, Bitcoin is the Iraqi dinar of the internet.”
“I know smart people, who, despite being smart, are not wise. They put a lot of money into Bitcoin, but that’s a very good way to turn a million dollars into nothing.”
If he had bought that 1 million dollars on the date of the video, today Ramsey would have US$ 180 million instead of zero.
Finally, Ramsey points out that people are “playing with unstable currencies that have no backing”.
“Let me tell you what Bitcoin is: it’s the wild west. You’re back to the banking system of the west because one of these computer nerds turns a key and the whole damn system goes away. It has no value. They were completely deceived and it brought them down”, he concluded.
The Ramsey Show is now recommending buying Bitcoin to diversify the portfolio
Eleven years later, now with Bitcoin above US$ 100,000, the presenters of the program The Ramsey Show were asked again if Bitcoin is a good investment.
After letting an 18,000% opportunity pass, now the gurus have changed their opinions.
“With Bitcoin, it’s like investing in any stock that has a lot of volatility.”
“You see Nvidia going up, then plummeting, news comes out of China and Nvidia reacts, and there’s all this agitation and fear in the market about what’s going to happen”, commented George Kamel. “That’s why I recommend diversification.”
In the answer, the presenter of The Ramsey Show says he received a call from a young man who was 100% allocated in Bitcoin and questioned what the problem would be.
Extending his answer, the guru states that the keyword is diversification.
“Putting all the chips in Bitcoin, I’m saying that this can be a risky move. There are Bitcoin billionaires out there, who are laughing from their private islands now. That could be the case”, said Kamel.
In addition, Ken Coleman states that “there is no doubt that cryptocurrencies are here to stay”.
“I would say that Bitcoin is here. I’m not saying that Bitcoin can’t fall, that I would disagree with something you said, I agree with everything… I would say to someone: Yes, if you want to invest in Bitcoin, treat it the same way we tell people to sit down with a SmartVestor professional [Ramsey’s solution] and learn about the strategies, so you understand what you’re doing.”
On social media, older investors in the community had fun with the situation. This is because several famous names in the industry, who previously criticized Bitcoin, are now investing or recommending the purchase of the cryptocurrency.
The list even includes Michael Saylor, founder of Strategy. Although today his company owns more than R$ 330 billion in Bitcoin (568,840 BTC), Saylor stated in 2013 that Bitcoin would not survive.
“Bitcoin’s days are numbered. It seems like just a matter of time before it suffers the same fate as online gambling.”
#Bitcoin days are numbered. It seems like just a matter of time before it suffers the same fate as online gambling.
— Michael Saylor (@saylor) December 19, 2013
Finally, others also noted that this change of opinion may attract ‘baby boomers’ (born between 1946 and 1964) to Bitcoin due to Ramsey’s program audience. After all, the show has been on the air since 1992, broadcast via radio before the internet.
The lesson is that each person buys Bitcoin for the price they deserve.
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