Michael Burry, the founder of Scion Asset Management renowned for predicting the 2008 subprime mortgage crisis, recently reflected on his investment journey spanning several decades. In a rare moment of candor, he admitted to a missed opportunity: nearly purchasing Bitcoin back in 2013.
In his own words shared on social media, Burry recounted numerous accurate calls over the past 26 years. He highlighted successful trades such as shorting Amazon at its peak in 2000, heavily investing in small-cap value stocks later that year, and buying Apple shares both in 1998 and again in 2002.
Burry revealed that during a conversation with an associate from Lightspeed Venture Partners—when Bitcoin was priced below $200—he seriously considered entering the cryptocurrency market but ultimately decided against it. This hesitation cost him exposure to an asset that would have surged thousands of percent over the following decade.
“Cassandra” Forecasts: Analyzing Bitcoin Patterns
While Burry may rue missing out on early Bitcoin gains, his current view is decidedly skeptical. Operating under his “Cassandra Unchained” alias on platform X (formerly Twitter), he recently posted a chart titled “Bitcoin Patterns,” drawing parallels between today’s market dynamics and those preceding the dramatic downturn during 2021-2022.
The graph projects Bitcoin reaching an all-time high near $126,000 by October 2025 before plunging roughly to $73,000—a drop reminiscent of last cycle’s steep decline by about half its value. He cautions this could spark a catastrophic “death spiral”, particularly impacting highly leveraged institutional investors like MicroStrategy and mining companies if prices fall further toward approximately $50,000 per coin.
Burry’s bearish outlook extends beyond cryptocurrencies into what he terms an “AI bubble.” Recently disclosed put options against prominent tech firms such as Nvidia (NVDA) and Palantir (PLTR) underscore his belief that these companies are artificially inflating earnings by extending depreciation periods for their hardware assets.
Just as he missed capitalizing on long-term Bitcoin growth years ago, Burry now views current institutional accumulation of AI chips alongside digital currencies not as indicators of lasting adoption but rather fleeting speculative trends destined to fade.