#1335 Anthony Scaramucci | Sovereign Wealth Funds Are Buying Bitcoin
4/1/2024 · 33 min · transcript via mlx
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Key topics
— Scaramucci's early Bitcoin investment thesis and the story of becoming the first outside investor in BlackRock's Bitcoin ETF via a $10 million commitment from SkyBridge.
— How regulatory clarity (Bitcoin classified as property under IRS rules) and institutional adoption through ETFs are fundamentally changing the Bitcoin market.
— The impact of the 2024 halving: supply dropping from 900 to 450 coins per day during peak institutional demand, which Scaramucci views as monumentally bullish over 12–18 months.
— The role of wire houses and traditional finance gatekeepers: they have little incentive to recommend Bitcoin due to their profitable access to Fed window borrowing, but this is changing gradually.
— Sovereign wealth funds and Middle Eastern institutions are quietly accumulating Bitcoin as a long-term inflation hedge and digital gold, not primarily for sanctions avoidance.
— Scaramucci's conviction that Bitcoin reaches $14–20 trillion in market cap within 5–8 years is central to SkyBridge's allocation strategy (currently ~40% of assets, up from 33% at launch).
Market & price signals
— Bitcoin has appreciated ~150% since late 2022 when Bloomberg published a critical article Scaramucci calls a "financial obituary" of SkyBridge—he reads this as a market bottom signal. SkyBridge entered Bitcoin positions in October–November 2021 near 100 million wallets. Grayscale's fee reduction (from 150 to lower basis points) has accelerated fund flows to BlackRock and other spot ETFs. Scaramucci expects the 2024 halving, combined with institutional demand and Wall Street's "selling machine" scaling up, to drive significant appreciation over 12–18 months. He rejects doom-and-gloom macro narratives, noting the dollar's global supremacy has not measurably weakened post-Ukraine sanctions despite BRIC coalition efforts.
Actionable insights
— Act like dead people at Charles Schwab: do no trading, hold Bitcoin long-term, and avoid emotional decision-making during volatility. Passive holders outperform active traders.
— The halving is a rare catalyst: with supply halving amid institutional inflows and Wall Street product distribution acceleration, the next 12–18 months may offer outsized returns—this is not a routine cycle.
— Wire house recommendation could be transformative: if major advisors begin green-lighting Bitcoin (even small 0.5–1% allocations), the multiplier effect on demand will be exponential, similar to S&P 500 index inclusion.
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