Cliff Asness, the billionaire quant investor and founder of AQR Capital Management, has recently expressed skepticism regarding the widely held belief that cryptocurrencies can act as a dependable “safe haven” or digital equivalent of gold.
Instead, he contends that cryptocurrencies are behaving more like typical technology stocks at this moment.
Asness points out that current correlations between Bitcoin and S&P 500 futures indicate that when the stock market experiences declines, cryptocurrencies tend to follow suit.
He remarked, “At present, crypto does not appear to function as a store of value or a diversifying asset; it resembles a risk-on investment (as it has lately but not always).”
A Longstanding Critic
Asness fundamentally regards Bitcoin as an “imaginary asset,” often ridiculing the notion that a purely digital currency could ever match the total worth of all physical assets on our planet.
He dismisses claims made by maximalists who suggest Bitcoin is pivotal in influencing the overall stock market. Instead, he perceives it merely as another highly unpredictable asset.
Additionally, he has criticized the idea of “Bitcoin yield,” which was popularized by Michael Saylor from MicroStrategy to measure BTC holdings against outstanding shares. He argues this metric fails to represent genuine yield or total return accurately.
His aversion to this concept is intense; he humorously quips that every time someone mentions it, “an angel gets their wings violently ripped off.”
Despite his strong dislike for Bitcoin itself, Asness reserves his sharpest critiques for Michael Saylor’s corporate approach and MicroStrategy’s substantial premium in trading value.
He characterizes MicroStrategy’s operation—essentially functioning like a closed-end fund with double net asset value exposure to Bitcoin—as “moronic” and indicative of significant market inefficiency.