Billionaire investor Jeremy Grantham has little patience for crypto. In a blunt appearance on CNBC’s Squawk Box, the GMO co-founder said he won’t be adding digital assets to his portfolio and dismissed cryptocurrencies as a “useless, speculative mechanism.”
Grantham argued that crypto is not a reliable store of value, pointing to Bitcoin’s sharp drawdown — which he described as a roughly 52% decline from its peak last October — even as other safe-haven assets saw gains earlier this year. “You can’t depend on it in that way,” he said, adding that people don’t use Bitcoin for “serious trades” or everyday purchases like buying dinner. He predicted the asset class will “dwindle away… not with a bang, but with a whimper.”
The veteran investor also warned that cryptocurrencies can facilitate illicit transfers of funds, saying the technology is “brilliant” at allowing “crooks to move money around without leaving a trace.” At the same time, Grantham acknowledged that blockchain rails could have meaningful, transformative applications — but he stressed his comments were aimed squarely at Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies themselves, not the underlying technology.
Market context: Bitcoin has struggled lately, falling about 17% over the past month and recently trading near $60,529. Grantham’s critique echoes similar skepticism from other high-profile investors — last month, Mark Cuban said Bitcoin has underperformed as a hedge compared with gold and disclosed that he sold most of his BTC holdings.
Whether Grantham’s prediction of a slow fade will play out remains an open question for investors watching crypto’s next moves.
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