Billionaire investor bullish on Bitcoin: ‘Crypto is here to stay’

Orlando Bravo, the co-founder of one of the world’s largest equity firms, talked about his views on Bitcoin and blockchain technology.

Orlando Bravo, co-founder and managing partner of private equity firm Thoma Bravo, expressed his unwavering endorsement of the cryptocurrency market in an interview at CNBC’s Delivering Alpha conference on Wednesday, revealing that he is “very bullish” on his personal investment in Bitcoin (BTC).

The billionaire businessman owns one of the world’s largest private equity firms, which boasts assets-under-management (AUM) of $83 billion as of June 30, 2021. Questioned on the potential of digital assets, Bravo spoke with delight on the emergence of the space:

“How could you not love crypto? […] Crypto is just a great system. It’s frictionless. It’s decentralized. And young people want their own financial system. So it is here to stay.”

Thoma Bravo participated in FTX’s $900 million Series B funding round — the largest in crypto exchange history — alongside sixty venture capital and crypto firms including Sequoia Capital, Coinbase Ventures, VanEck and the Paul Tudor Jones family. The funding resulted in FTX’s value soaring to a colossal $18 billion, establishing the exchange as a decacorn.

Is crypto here to stay? "Absolutely," says @OrlandoBravoTB.

"How could you not love crypto? And on top of that, the underlying technology of blockchain can be very powerful." #DeliveringAlpha pic.twitter.com/hpt2pBql11

— Delivering Alpha (@DeliveringAlpha) September 29, 2021

In the interview, Bravo also spoke highly of blockchain, crypto’s underlying technology, conveying his belief that it could improve the current system:

“The underlying technology of blockchain, regardless of what protocol or what system you are building upon, can be very powerful and sometimes provides better use cases than data-based software.”

Subscribing to a similar sentiment is crypto maverick Elon Musk, who spoke to CNBC at Tuesday’s Code Conference in California. Musk advocated for the adoption of cryptocurrencies but warned on government invention: “It is not possible to, I think, destroy crypto, but it is possible for governments to slow down its advancement.”

When questioned on his instincts for regulating the ecosystem, Musk responded in a laissez-faire tone, claiming: “I would say, ‘Do nothing.’”

Related: Bears intend to pin Bitcoin price below $43K until Friday’s $700M expiry passes

Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView reveals that Bitcoin is experiencing a moment of low investor morale in the wake of China’s 19th country-wide ban of the crypto asset, in addition to sharp price corrections from the $53,000 level witnessed a few weeks ago.