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Recently, an American website Coindesk broke a shocking news: Ivy League schools are quietly using university endowment funds to invest in Bitcoin.
According to an insider from Bitcoin trading agency Coinbase, American universities such as Harvard University, Yale University, Brown University and University of Michigan have already purchased Bitcoin directly on the exchange. It is said that as early as 2018, several Ivy League endowment foundations became interested in blockchain technology.
As a virtual cryptocurrency, Bitcoin can be said to be a very special product in the Internet era, and it has also become the "protagonist" of many mysterious stories. There are various speculations about the founder of Bitcoin, as well as various technical guidance on "mining". There are also many controversies about Bitcoin. Some people think it is a dirty transaction currency on the dark web, while others think it is a high-risk investment and a major trend in the future.
The price of Bitcoin fluctuates greatly, and it has soared in this special period of 2020. On January 8, 2021, the price of Bitcoin exceeded $40,000, reaching its highest level in history. As of press time, the price of Bitcoin is $37,541.30. If you invested $100 11 years ago, your return would be about 500 times now. The news that American universities are investing in Bitcoin has caused a lot of controversy. After the news was reported, Yale University and Brown University did not respond. The donation agencies of Harvard University and the University of Michigan also declined to be interviewed. The news mainly came from the institution Coinbase, which only mentioned one university fund transaction in its 2020 annual report, but did not disclose the information of specific schools. People familiar with the matter revealed that these universities hope to "invest in secret." Currently, many schools are converting part of the funds donated by alumni into cryptocurrencies. Some university foundations have opened accounts at Coinbase for up to 18 months. These investments "may have started in mid-2019, and most have been at least a year. I think they may discuss the issue publicly sometime this year. I estimate that they will get some good returns."
For colleges and universities, annual donations allow them to accumulate a pool of funds. These donations usually appear in the form of charitable donations, mainly used to support teaching and research. Of course, the school's funds can also be allocated to various assets for investment.
Harvard University is the richest school in the United States, with more than $40 billion in assets. Yale has more than $30 billion, the University of Michigan has about $12.5 billion, and Brown University has about $4.7 billion. It is unclear how much money these schools have allocated to Bitcoin investment, but it may only account for a few percent of their total assets.
Back in 2018, Yale University Chief Investment Officer David Swensen made headlines by backing two Bitcoin-focused venture funds. Several other universities have followed Yale in supporting cryptocurrencies, including Harvard, Stanford, Dartmouth, MIT, University of North Carolina, and University of Michigan. And according to the information currently exposed, some of these schools seem to be taking the next step and investing directly in crypto assets.
Ari Paul, a former investment manager at the University of Chicago, said that if he had heard this news three years ago, he would have thought it was fake news. However, many institutions are now very optimistic about Bitcoin, and there are legal and convenient ways to buy it in the United States, as long as you invest through regulated institutions.
Ari Paul believes that although many institutions are reluctant to disclose information about whether they have invested, this topic may be made public in the near future. In short, people are becoming more and more accepting of Bitcoin.
If the news that Ivy League dream schools invest in Bitcoin is true, then the future of Bitcoin seems to be really promising. However, this news was revealed by the institution responsible for Bitcoin transactions, and we can reasonably suspect that they are trying to attract more people to invest in Bitcoin.
However, the school's refusal to respond is still intriguing. If it is really fake news, the school can also directly declare that it has never invested in cryptocurrency. Could it be that...
After reading this, do you suddenly feel the same urge as me, hoping to invest in it yourself? We still need to remain rational. In order to prevent everyone from being led by the nose, I have sorted out the five reasons why you should not invest in Bitcoin. Let us understand Bitcoin from another perspective.
1. Bitcoin is not really scarce <br />You may have heard that the reason why the price of Bitcoin has skyrocketed is because the number of Bitcoins is fixed and can no longer be increased. Scarcity makes things valuable, which is why many people are chasing Bitcoin. In fact, Bitcoin is only as scarce as its programming dictates. The number of Bitcoin tokens is limited by the computer program. However, if necessary, the programmer can choose to increase the limit of Bitcoin tokens at some point in the future.
2. Bitcoin is not equal to digital currency <br />People often confuse virtual currency with digital currency. Digital currency is still currency, just digitized. For example, the amount of money in your Alipay account is guaranteed by the state. As long as China exists, this money is money. But Bitcoin has no country and no one guarantees it. Maybe one day a genius will come out and invent another virtual currency.
3. Bitcoin is hard to become mainstream <br />Although Bitcoin is widely known and the concept of blockchain is also hyped, there are actually very few companies that use blockchain technology. This is a hot topic, and the reason why it has become a hot topic is that it is mysterious and controversial. This characteristic determines that it is difficult for it to become a mainstream currency and investment in a short period of time.
4. Lack of supervision, fraud is difficult to prevent <br />The special nature of Bitcoin also makes it often become an asset that is stolen. Some hackers' main job is to steal Bitcoin. Moreover, Bitcoin is an unregulated asset. Users buy anonymously, and transactions are all done online. Both parties may be in any corner of the world. Once a transaction has problems, it cannot be tracked and managed.
5. All bubbles will eventually burst <br />Current Bitcoin investment is indeed on the rise, but according to historical lessons, all investment bubbles will eventually burst. Bitcoin has doubled in value and also fallen by 80%. We cannot predict what will happen tomorrow. |
