Billionaire Bill Ackman Says Crypto is Here to Stay After FTX Implosion

The American billionaire investor and hedge fund manager – Bill Ackman – reiterated his support for crypto, maintaining that the sector is “here to stay.”

He also endorsed the blockchain-based network Helium, saying the project’s token HNT could “build intrinsic value over time.”

Helium’s Merits

In a recent series of tweets, the Founder and CEO of Pershing Square Capital – Bill Ackman – argued that Helium is one of the “interesting crypto projects” with numerous benefits.

For one, it created a global Wi-Fi network employed by other entities to track devices. Ackman also stressed that the valuation of Helium’s native asset – HNT – is determined by supply and demand. Miners purchase hotspots and deploy them worldwide to earn tokens, while users buy such coins to use the network.

“Imagine how difficult it would be to create Helium’s million-node network of global hot spots where each node is placed in a location to optimize the coverage of the network,” he added.

Ackman pointed out that HNT has an “ultimately finite supply” and claimed it could generate intrinsic value in the future.

Despite endorsing the crypto project, Helium was a subject of scrutiny this summer. It claimed that several companies, including Salesforce, used its technology, but the latter denied the statement.

“Some of the users on the network we know about and some we don’t, that’s the nature of having a permissionless network that anyone can use. All of the usage is visible on-chain, but not who or what. We also don’t always know when users stop using the network,” Helium’s Founder Amir Haleem explained the issue at the time.

HNT is also in pretty bad condition. Due to the harsh consequences of the crypto winter, among other reasons, its price has slipped to $2.20 (as of the moment of writing these lines). This represents a whopping 96% decline compared to the all-time high of over $55 hit last November.

Ackman’s View on Crypto

The 56-year-old investor admitted that he was not a fan of the crypto industry in the past, describing it as a “modern-day version of tulip mania.” After examining the field, though, he changed his stance and even invested some of his wealth into it.

Apart from Helium, he owns a stake in ORIGYN Foundation and has a position in Goldfinch Finance. His total exposure to crypto projects equals 2% of his assets, adding that he invests “more as a hobbyist” who wants to learn the specifics of the industry. As such, he warned people not to take any recommendation from him on the matter.

Given his research, he has predicted that “crypto is here to stay.” However, he concluded that it will truly thrive once global regulators impose comprehensive rules and remove criminals who use the asset class in illicit affairs.

An Advice to New York City’s Mayor

New York City’s new mayor – Eric Adams – stepped into office last year and presented himself as a keen supporter of bitcoin. He even received his first paychecks in BTC and vowed to turn the Big Apple into a global crypto hub.

Ackman welcomed those plans and urged Adams to remove barriers in the sector so New Yorkers could stay in their city instead of looking for other more crypto-friendly destinations.

“Let’s remove barriers, create opportunities for growth and innovation, and help our state and city,” he said.