REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz
Billionaire investor Paul Tudor Jones is buying bitcoin, Bloomberg reported Thursday.
The hedge fund manager said his fund may hold as much as a low single-digit percentage of its assets in bitcoin futures to help protect against a rise in inflation, according to the report.
Paul Tudor Jones is the founder and CEO of Tudor Investment Corp., which managed $38.4 billion as of March 30, according to data from the SEC.
Visit Business Insider’s homepage for more stories.
Billionaire hedge fund manager Paul Tudor Jones is buying bitcoin, Bloomberg reported on Thursday.
Jones told his clients in a market outlook note that he believes bitcoin will serve as a hedge against a jump in inflation he thinks is coming, due to central banks printing money and sharply expanding their balance sheets amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Read more: GOLDMAN SACHS: Traders are reaping unusually large profits from earnings-related stock trades. Here are 15 picks for the remainder of the season.
Jones said bitcoin “reminds him of the role gold played in the 1970s,” according to the report.
“The best profit-maximizing strategy is to own the fastest horse. If I am forced to forecast, my bet is it will be Bitcoin,” Jones said in the client note.
One of Jones’ funds, Tudor BVI, may hold as much as a low single-digit percentage of its assets in bitcoin futures.
Jones is the founder and CEO of Tudor Investment Corp., a hedge fund that managed $38.4 billion as of March 30, according to data from the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Bitcoin traded up as much as 6.5% on Thursday to $9,911. 

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Mark Yusko, the CEO and chief investment officer at Morgan Creek Capital Management, shared several reasons he thinks bitcoin’s price will hit $100,000 by the end of 2021.Yusko said it would be “perfectly logical” for bitcoin to hit $400,000 to $500,000 if its market capitalization moves toward that of gold.The call comes after the legendary investor Paul Tudor Jones’ recent disclosure that he’s built a stake of bitcoin futures, making him the latest investment mogul to buy the cryptocurrency.Click here for more BI Prime stories.
With the legendary investor Paul Tudor Jones disclosing purchases of bitcoin futures for the first time, it’s become increasingly clear that market denizens who were once skeptical about the cryptocurrency are revisiting their stance.But Mark Yusko, the CEO and chief investment officer at Morgan Creek Capital Management, where he oversees $2 billion, has been a bitcoin proponent for years now.In addition to being bullish on bitcoin, Yusko is bearish on the real estate market, stocks, and the US Dollar. What’s more, he calls bonds “pretty overvalued,” so he’s not keen on that space either.”Really what it comes down to is … I realized that this was technology — an innovation in technology, an innovation in computing power,” he said on the “Altcoin Buzz” podcast. “I actually believe that this transition will be the biggest wealth-creation opportunity I’ll probably see in my lifetime.”
The transition that Yusko speaks of is what he calls the move to “Web 3.0.” The way he sees it, Web 1.0 consisted of the initial internet moguls — Cisco, Microsoft, and Intel — and created tons of wealth. Web 2.0 companies grew even faster and bigger — firms like Alibaba and Facebook — because they were building on viable infrastructure already put in place.Today, Yusko says Web 3.0 — blockchain — will be “even bigger.” And it’s this network that is the key to making bitcoin valuable.And he has some extremely bullish forecasts for the cryptocurrency. He sees the fair value of bitcoin skyrocketing to $100,000 by the end of 2021. That would mark an about 900% increase from current levels.Outlined below are five of the main reasons Yusko gives for his unabashed bitcoin bullishness. 
1. It’s a noncorrelated safe-haven asset “It acted exactly as all other safe-haven assets did,” Yusko said in reference to bitcoin’s behavior during the latest coronavirus-induced market swoon. “What people seem to miss is that uncorrelated doesn’t mean that you’re uncorrelated every day, every hour, every minute. It means you’re uncorrelated over the long term. And the correlation of bitcoin to other assets is very low — still about 0.15.”2. Fundamental growth”People take these short-term moves and try to extrapolate them into long-term trends — and they’re just not,” Yusko said. “They’re really unrelated events to the long-term fundamental part of bitcoin that is so attractive, which is more uses, more adoption, more widespread ownership, more wallets, more people with 0.1 or more bitcoin in their wallet.”
He added: “So all those things fundamentally are really, really strong.”3. The word is spreading and education is ramping up”But what you’ve got is this increasing knowledge base that’s being disseminated — groups like yours going on the air, people writing about it, people bringing it front and center,” he said.When Yusko first found out about bitcoin, he was skeptical. But as he learned more and became more educated in the space, he realized the opportunity at hand. He expects others to follow a similar path.
4. An endorsement from a younger generation”Bitcoin growth is determined differently. It’s a network, and networks grow based on usage, based on regulation, based on — in this case —millennial adoption because there’s really a difference between how older investors view the world, right? They think of gold as their safe haven. Younger investors think of bitcoin as their safe haven,” Yusko said.5. Fair value and scarcity”There will only be 21,000,000 ever mined, but some do get lost forever,” he said. “Fair value of this network — if you follow the stock-to-flow model or the original parabolic growth model — comes out to about $10,000 in 2017. Magically, we hit that about six days after we were supposed to.” 
He added: “By 2021, about the mid to end of 2021, the fair value will be around $100,000.”With all of that established, it’s also worth noting that Yusko has an even more bullish forecast in a more far-flung scenario in which the total market value of bitcoin rivals that of gold. If that happens, he thinks bitcoin could hit $400,000 to $500,000. It’s a scenario he believes to be “perfectly logical.”

What companies are using private blockchains today and why?
Walmart has developed a blockchain system based on Hyperledger Fabric to trace the provenance of their products. The blockchain allows suppliers to upload certificates of authenticity to the ledger securely, bringing more trust to a system and enabling the company to trace products back to source within seconds rather than days.
After successful trials with two products, the company is looking to roll it out further. Like other private blockchains, Walmart’s traceability system does require its suppliers to participate in the system to ensure its veracity, but the company is large enough to impel them to comply. 
De Beers has launched a ‘secure and immutable trail’ using a private blockchain called Tracr, to verify the authenticity and provenance of diamonds and ensure they are not “blood diamonds” from conflict zones. 
Comcast has partnered with other industry leaders to launch Blockgraph, a blockchain-based system which allows advertisers to target viewers with specific adverts while maintaining viewers’ privacy.
BurstIQ’s big data blockchain platform helps patients and doctors securely transfer sensitive medial information using smart contracts that establish the parameters of what data can be shared.
In April 2017, the streaming giant Spotify acquired blockchain startup Mediachain in an effort to create a fairer, more transparent, and rewarding music industry for musicians. Prior to its acquisition, Mediachain had developed several technologies that could aid in these efforts, including a decentralized, peer-to-peer database that connects applications to media and information about it, the Mediachain Attribution Engine, and a cryptocurrency that rewards artists for their work.
The all-in-one real estate transaction management software, Propy, leverages blockchain technology to streamline real estate transactions and mitigate the risk of fraud. Propy even offers properties that can be purchased using cryptocurrency.
Xage is the world’s first blockchain-enabled cybersecurity platform for IoT companies primarily in the transportation, energy and manufacturing industries. With the ability to self-diagnose and heal possible breaches, it leverages blockchain technology to manage billions of devices and protects industrial IoT operations against cyber attacks.
Shipping giant DHL is at the forefront of blockchain-powered logistics. One of the largest shipping companies to embrace blockchain, it uses the technology to maintain a digital ledger of shipments and protect the integrity of transactions.
And several banks and insurance companies, such as JP Morgan and MetLife, are using their own private blockchains to simplify, streamline and verify transactions and contracts that would previously have taken far longer and potentially been less secure.

Reuters / Dado Ruvic
Mark Yusko, the CEO and chief investment officer at Morgan Creek Capital Management, shared several reasons he thinks bitcoin’s price will hit $100,000 by the end of 2021.
Yusko said it would be “perfectly logical” for bitcoin to hit $400,000 to $500,000 if its market capitalization moves toward that of gold.
The call comes after the legendary investor Paul Tudor Jones’ recent disclosure that he’s built a stake of bitcoin futures, making him the latest investment mogul to buy the cryptocurrency.
Click here for more BI Prime stories.
With the legendary investor Paul Tudor Jones disclosing purchases of bitcoin futures for the first time, it’s become increasingly clear that market denizens who were once skeptical about the cryptocurrency are revisiting their stance.
But Mark Yusko, the CEO and chief investment officer at Morgan Creek Capital Management, where he oversees $2 billion, has been a bitcoin proponent for years now.
In addition to being bullish on bitcoin, Yusko is bearish on the real estate market, stocks, and the US Dollar. What’s more, he calls bonds “pretty overvalued,” so he’s not keen on that space either.
“Really what it comes down to is … I realized that this was technology — an innovation in technology, an innovation in computing power,” he said on the “Altcoin Buzz” podcast. “I actually believe that this transition will be the biggest wealth-creation opportunity I’ll probably see in my lifetime.”
The transition that Yusko speaks of is what he calls the move to “Web 3.0.” The way he sees it, Web 1.0 consisted of the initial internet moguls — Cisco, Microsoft, and Intel — and created tons of wealth. Web 2.0 companies grew even faster and bigger — firms like Alibaba and Facebook — because they were building on viable infrastructure already put in place.
Today, Yusko says Web 3.0 — blockchain — will be “even bigger.” And it’s this network that is the key to making bitcoin valuable.
And he has some extremely bullish forecasts for the cryptocurrency. He sees the fair value of bitcoin skyrocketing to $100,000 by the end of 2021. That would mark an about 900% increase from current levels.
Outlined below are five of the main reasons Yusko gives for his unabashed bitcoin bullishness. 
1. It’s a noncorrelated safe-haven asset 
“It acted exactly as all other safe-haven assets did,” Yusko said in reference to bitcoin’s behavior during the latest coronavirus-induced market swoon. “What people seem to miss is that uncorrelated doesn’t mean that you’re uncorrelated every day, every hour, every minute. It means you’re uncorrelated over the long term. And the correlation of bitcoin to other assets is very low — still about 0.15.”
2. Fundamental growth
“People take these short-term moves and try to extrapolate them into long-term trends — and they’re just not,” Yusko said. “They’re really unrelated events to the long-term fundamental part of bitcoin that is so attractive, which is more uses, more adoption, more widespread ownership, more wallets, more people with 0.1 or more bitcoin in their wallet.”
He added: “So all those things fundamentally are really, really strong.”
3. The word is spreading and education is ramping up
“But what you’ve got is this increasing knowledge base that’s being disseminated — groups like yours going on the air, people writing about it, people bringing it front and center,” he said.
When Yusko first found out about bitcoin, he was skeptical. But as he learned more and became more educated in the space, he realized the opportunity at hand. He expects others to follow a similar path.
4. An endorsement from a younger generation
“Bitcoin growth is determined differently. It’s a network, and networks grow based on usage, based on regulation, based on — in this case —millennial adoption because there’s really a difference between how older investors view the world, right? They think of gold as their safe haven. Younger investors think of bitcoin as their safe haven,” Yusko said.
5. Fair value and scarcity
“There will only be 21,000,000 ever mined, but some do get lost forever,” he said. “Fair value of this network — if you follow the stock-to-flow model or the original parabolic growth model — comes out to about $10,000 in 2017. Magically, we hit that about six days after we were supposed to.” 
He added: “By 2021, about the mid to end of 2021, the fair value will be around $100,000.”
With all of that established, it’s also worth noting that Yusko has an even more bullish forecast in a more far-flung scenario in which the total market value of bitcoin rivals that of gold. If that happens, he thinks bitcoin could hit $400,000 to $500,000. It’s a scenario he believes to be “perfectly logical.”

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Reuters
The cryptocurrency market added $13 billion in value over the past day as bitcoin jumped more than 6% Thursday evening.
Bitcoin has rallied more than 100% from its March 16 low and has eclipsed $10,000 for the first time since February.
The three major reasons for the move include anticipation of the next bitcoin halving, institutional investors adding exposure, and the perception that bitcoin would protect against a surge in inflation.
Visit Business Insider’s homepage for more stories.
Bitcoin jumped 6% on Thursday, causing a $13 billion surge in market value for the entire cryptocurrency market, according to data from Coindesk.
The entire cryptocurrency market is worth a combined $267 billion as of Friday morning, data from CoinMarketCap shows. 
The top three cryptocurrencies ranked by market value are bitcoin, worth $181.5 billion; ethereum, worth $23.4 billion; and XRP, worth $9.5 billion.
Bitcoin’s Thursday jump only adds to its recent gains. The cryptocurrency has rallied 102% from its March 16 low of $4,944 to $10,025 Thursday night, representing the first time bitcoin has eclipsed $10,000 since mid-February.
Read more: A hedge-fund chief overseeing $2 billion shares 5 reasons why he sees bitcoin surging 900% by the end of 2021 as Paul Tudor Jones dives into the asset
There are three major reasons being attributed to the move higher in crypto markets.
1. Anticipation of the upcoming bitcon halving.
Bitcoin is scheduled to be “halved” on May 11.
Currently, miners are rewarded with 12.5 new bitcoin per block mined.
On May 12, that 12.5 new bitcoin reward will be halved to 6.25 new bitcoin, limiting the future supply of bitcoin coming onto the market. 
Basic supply-demand principles suggest a reduction in supply results in an increase in price.
Read more: Chad Glauser has dominated his benchmark for 28 months straight using just 3 ETFs. Here’s what they are, and how they’ve combined to beat the market.
Previous halving events were preceded with a sharp rally in bitcoin as anticipation of the event grew.
Coindesk.com
In 2012, new bitcoin rewards to miners were halved from 50 to 25, and in 2016, they were halved again from 25 to 12.5.
Halvings in bitcoin occur every four years.
2. Evidence that institutional investors are starting to load up on bitcoin.
Institutional investors allocating a piece of their portfolios to bitcoin has always been a scenario talked up by bullish crypto investors.
That talking point seems to finally be coming to fruition.
On Thursday, Bloomberg reported that billionaire hedge fund manager Paul Tudor Jones would start buying bitcoin.
Jones told clients that one of his funds could have a low-single-digit percentage allocation to bitcoin futures.
Jones’ reasoning for the allocation to bitcoin? To protect against inflation.
Read more: RBC explains how gold could surge 9% to a record high, even as stocks climb – a scenario that would shatter how investors have thought about the commodity for decades
3. Growing belief that bitcoin will act as a hedge against inflation.
There is a growing belief that bitcoin will serve as an effective hedge against a potential rise in inflation.
Whereas governments can print an unlimited amount of money for various fiscal and monetary policies, similar to physical gold, the supply of bitcoin is fixed.
The supply of bitcoin is fixed at 21 million coins. It is estimated that of the 21 million total coins, 18 million have been mined already.
Bitcoin acting as an inflation hedge has been picking up steam as the US Fed’s balance sheet has expanded by trillions of dollars in just a matter of weeks to fund stimulus programs aimed at mitigating the economic damage caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
As outlined in the chart below, technically, bitcoin is pushing up against a key resistance level. The resistance for the digital gold currency has been $10,000 since 2018. If bitcoin can decisively trade above the psychological $10,000 level, bulls should be back in control of bitcoin.
Read more: Nancy Davis has a pristine track record of calling recent market meltdowns. She outlines a new bubble she sees building in the bond market – and offers 3 strategies for taking advantage.
Freestockcharts.com
 

Euromoney’s FinTech training courses are led by world-leading experts and cover a variety of topics including private and public blockchains, cryptocurrency, alternative fundraising strategies, and the role of AI, machine learning and big data in banking.
London
15-16 Jul 2020
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London
02-03 Dec 2020
2
London
13-17 Jul 2020
5
London
30 Nov-04 Dec 2020
5
London
13-14 Jul 2020
2
London
30 Nov-01 Dec 2020
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Spencer Platt/Getty Images
Hedge funds posted their best month in more than a decade as March’s lows gave way to a resounding rally through April.
Eurekahedge’s Hedge Fund Index gained 3.7% last month, its biggest jump since May 2009. A combination of Federal Reserve action, risk-on attitude, and optimism toward COVID-19 vaccine trials pushed investors back into the stock market. Major US indexes posted their best month since 1987 and rallied out of bear market territory. 
Nearly 80% of the index’s members gained in April, with 10% of managers posting double-digit returns. Eurekahedge’s North American Hedge Fund Index jumped 5.4%, while its European peer gained 3.5%. The index for Asia excluding Japan posted the biggest regional win with a 6.5% return, while the Japan-focused hedge fund index leaped 1.6% through the month.
Read more: MORGAN STANLEY: A combo of powerful forces is brewing an inflation comeback that will alter the investing landscape. Buy these 20 stocks to profit from its return.
April also brought the index’s first monthly gain since a meager 0.08% return in January.
The firm’s Crypto-Currency Hedge Fund Index surged 28.5% in April on the back of a broad crypto upswing. Bitcoin soared more than 35% through the month.
Despite the strong April performance, the main hedge fund index remains down 4.6% year-to-date. The S&P 500 and Dow Jones industrial average have also failed to erase their 2020 losses. Both indexes stabilized through the end of last month as volatility cooled and traders questioned the run-up’s strength.
Read more: Bill Miller’s record-setting fund beat the market for 15 straight years. He explains why he’s still bullish on airlines today, even after Warren Buffett abandoned the industry twice.
The Nasdaq composite broke through its December 31 close on Thursday, lifted by a growing interest in mega-cap tech stocks.
Eurekahedge’s Hedge Fund Index includes 2,277 equally weighted constituents.
Now read more markets coverage from Markets Insider and Business Insider:
Nobel laureate Paul Krugman warns emerging markets are about to lose their best defense against recession
The Fed will start buying corporate-bond ETFs on Tuesday — launching a key component of its emergency coronavirus response
A group of healthcare stocks is enjoying the market’s biggest post-crash comeback, and has returned 1,000% over the past decade. One investment firm explains why there’s even more upside — and shares 3 companies it’s buying.

The Bitcoin Origin Story
In late 2008, around the time of the financial crisis, a ground-breaking post appeared on a little-known internet forum entitled Bitcoin: A peer-to-peer electronic cash system. It was written by a mysterious person called Satoshi Nakamoto, a pseudonym used to disguise the author’s true identity.
Satoshi thought that the banks and governments had too much power that they used in their own self-interests. Satoshi envisaged a new type of money called Bitcoin that could change that: a cryptocurrency that wasn’t controlled or run by central banks or governments, that you could send anywhere around the world for free, with no person or institution in charge.
At first nobody paid attention to Satoshi’s wild ideas – but slowly more and more people started buying and using Bitcoin. Many believed it was the future of money, and the worse the big banks behaved the more popular it became. 
Since it was formulated and launched in 2009, Bitcoin has grown to a network of around 10,000 “nodes” or participants which use the Proof of Work system to validate transactions and mine bitcoin.
This democracy prevailed until the development of specific mining computers called ASICs which overtook other less powerful machines, and companies began to profit from amassing miners and mining technology. It is still possible for an individual to take part in the Bitcoin process, but it is expensive to set up and the return on investment fluctuates with the highly volatile value of bitcoin itself. 
Today, massive mining pools are owned or controlled by large corporations, and power is centralising again. This evolution has somewhat undermined Satoshi’s original vision for blockchain in which the “power” of participants was designed to be evenly distributed – but is now concentrated in the hands of half a dozen mining conglomerates.