WEBVTT - Galaxy Digital CEO Mike Novogratz Talks Bitcoin

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<v Speaker 1>Bloomberg Audio Studios, podcasts, radio news.

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<v Speaker 2>And now we are joined by Galaxy Digital founder and

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<v Speaker 2>CEO Mike Novogratz, and let's just start with the simple things.

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<v Speaker 2>Let's start with bitcoin in the crypto world, because we're

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<v Speaker 2>flirting with that seventy thousand dollars level and you sit here,

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<v Speaker 2>we have been around this space for a while. Now,

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<v Speaker 2>is there more upside risk or downside risk as you

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<v Speaker 2>see it now in the crypto world?

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<v Speaker 3>Listen, I think we're getting skewed to the upside. I

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<v Speaker 3>mean just the fact that we're here at a crypto

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<v Speaker 3>show and Bloomberg shows how long we've come since twenty fifteen,

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<v Speaker 3>sixteen seventeen.

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<v Speaker 1>But we kind of got to the finish line.

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<v Speaker 3>And when I say that DC has finally agreed in

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<v Speaker 3>principle that crypto legislation has to happen, that it should

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<v Speaker 3>be bipartisan, we still have a couple holdouts, but it's

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<v Speaker 3>the last few weeks have been unbelievably positive in pushing

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<v Speaker 3>the Democrats forward. Seeing this, they don't want it to

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<v Speaker 3>be a political issue, and so that which was a

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<v Speaker 3>headwind is becoming a tailwind. It's not a full tail

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<v Speaker 3>win yet, we have governments that can't stop spending money,

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<v Speaker 3>and so that just is so powerful for the bitcoin narrative.

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<v Speaker 3>And then all of a sudden, you hear, wait a minute,

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<v Speaker 3>the state of was constant's pension.

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<v Speaker 1>Fun about one hundred and forty million dollars a bitcoin.

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<v Speaker 3>And so as we get more pension funds in more institutions,

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<v Speaker 3>and you know, there's not a lot of sellers.

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<v Speaker 2>So the question we know you hate, then where do

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<v Speaker 2>we end the year.

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<v Speaker 3>Listen, if we take out the seventy three thousand in

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<v Speaker 3>the next week or so, we're going to end the

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<v Speaker 3>year on one hundred thousand somewhere around there.

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<v Speaker 1>We're even hire.

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<v Speaker 3>Markets work, they create ranges, and when the ranges, the

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<v Speaker 3>top of the range breaks, you know you have a

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<v Speaker 3>nice extension. And so you know at the bottom of

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<v Speaker 3>that range was started around forty, so forty to seventy.

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<v Speaker 3>This seventy goes to one hundred, and so that's a

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<v Speaker 3>good enough target.

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<v Speaker 4>Okay, we saw a spot bitcoin etf sorry to get

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<v Speaker 4>approved this year, and we've seen a lot.

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<v Speaker 1>Of inflows there.

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<v Speaker 4>So it makes me wonder what the next catalyst is

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<v Speaker 4>for bitcoin to actually break seventy three and get to

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<v Speaker 4>hear your in target of one hundred thousand.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah.

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<v Speaker 3>So I had had the same question, asked me, I

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<v Speaker 3>don't know five weeks ago, and I said, I don't

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<v Speaker 3>think it will unless we get one of two things happen.

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<v Speaker 3>More regulatory clarity, which I thought was a low probability

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<v Speaker 3>at that point, and or the FED starting to move.

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<v Speaker 3>We're getting the regulatory clarity, and even though it's not perfect,

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<v Speaker 3>we got enough.

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<v Speaker 1>That people now realize this is coming. And why is

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<v Speaker 1>that important? What does it mean?

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<v Speaker 3>So if SABE one, this arcade accounting bill and in

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<v Speaker 3>time gets overturned, it allows Bank of New York and

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<v Speaker 3>State Street and.

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<v Speaker 1>Others to get into custody.

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<v Speaker 3>If the infrastructure build, If the FIT twenty one bill

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<v Speaker 3>gets approved, it allows Goldman Sachs and City Bank and

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<v Speaker 3>all these other people to start doing sales and trading.

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<v Speaker 3>And so as you bring those institutions in, huge money follows.

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<v Speaker 4>The Biden White House said it would veto that overturning.

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<v Speaker 3>The Biden White House vetoed the ZAB twenty one, and

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<v Speaker 3>then they said they they wouldn't veto, and so they

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<v Speaker 3>were talking. This is really sad what happened. Because Donald

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<v Speaker 3>Trump stole the show. He basically came out and said,

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<v Speaker 3>I'm your crypto president. The same day Biden had said

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<v Speaker 3>he was going to veto this thing. Why would a

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<v Speaker 3>president sitting president talk about vetoing a arcane accounting rule?

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<v Speaker 3>And so that turned the whole crypto community into Trump's

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<v Speaker 3>corner and almost was like a purity test. People said,

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<v Speaker 3>if you don't vote for Trump, you're not a crypto person.

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<v Speaker 3>And finally the Democrats heard and so real quickly, nine

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<v Speaker 3>Democratic senators voted not to support that accounting rule, against

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<v Speaker 3>Elizabeth Warren's wishes, against the SEC's.

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<v Speaker 2>I'm going to steal Tim's question here, he asked all

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<v Speaker 2>our guests, is I'm going to ask you at the

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<v Speaker 2>end of the day, who would be better for bitcoin?

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<v Speaker 2>Who would be better for crypto? Trump or Biden.

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<v Speaker 3>What is so clear to me is it's the wrong question.

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<v Speaker 3>What is good for our industry is a bipartisan support

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<v Speaker 3>of bills. Otherwise you're going to be student Buney left,

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<v Speaker 3>student Boddy right. Listen, these elections are going to swing

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<v Speaker 3>back and forth for a while, and so crypto shouldn't

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<v Speaker 3>be partisan.

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<v Speaker 1>The short answer is, right now, Trump.

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<v Speaker 3>Would because he says I'm crypto president, I'm going to

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<v Speaker 3>do all this stuff. But really that's a short it's

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<v Speaker 3>a short term way of looking at things. What we've

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<v Speaker 3>done a really great job of and shout out to

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<v Speaker 3>Brian Armstrong and lots of people in.

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<v Speaker 1>The industry of our own time. You know, we've got

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<v Speaker 1>our own.

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<v Speaker 3>Lobbyist in DC is educating people on both sides. And

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<v Speaker 3>there are tons of Democrats that are for good crypto legislation.

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<v Speaker 2>Now, so many people who are pouring money into elections

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<v Speaker 2>right now and into lobbying from the crypto community.

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<v Speaker 1>What's this scale? How much influence do they really have?

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<v Speaker 2>As someone frankly Mike was a traditional way donor as

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<v Speaker 2>well as a crypto donor, the.

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<v Speaker 3>Scale has gotten big. That's why the Democrats woke up.

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<v Speaker 3>There's been about one hundred and fifty million on it's

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<v Speaker 3>way to two hundred and fifty million dollars in these

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<v Speaker 3>crypto superpacks.

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<v Speaker 1>That's not all crypto money.

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<v Speaker 3>What happened was when the Democrats kept saying we don't

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<v Speaker 3>like crypto, and again it was a very small group.

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<v Speaker 3>It was Elizabeth Ward who said, I want to have

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<v Speaker 3>an anti crypto army. The way politics work in DC

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<v Speaker 3>is every Senator doesn't know every issue, they look to

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<v Speaker 3>the leader of that committee. So Elizabeth really was running

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<v Speaker 3>crypto for the Democrats, and she hates crypto. So all

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<v Speaker 3>that money started to look like Republican money, even though

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<v Speaker 3>it was supposed to be bipartisan and focused on really

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<v Speaker 3>key races.

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<v Speaker 1>Shared Brown's race, John Tester's race.

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<v Speaker 4>What would you say to someone watching right now who

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<v Speaker 4>might say, you know what, the SEC and lawmakers it's

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<v Speaker 4>their job to protect people from getting involved in things

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<v Speaker 4>that could hurt them. And there are some people out

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<v Speaker 4>there who say, well, there are a lot of people

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<v Speaker 4>out there who say, I don't want touch crypto because

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<v Speaker 4>I've seen how of all little it can be, and

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<v Speaker 4>I don't think it's something that, you know, mom and

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<v Speaker 4>pop folks should have in their portfolios.

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<v Speaker 1>I see you laughing, Mike.

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<v Speaker 3>Well, because Kai, frankly, anyone who bought big with the

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<v Speaker 3>exception of one or two people that bought it over

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<v Speaker 3>seventy thousand has made money. You know, Like, if you

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<v Speaker 3>bought that codin held it like most bigcoiners do, you're

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<v Speaker 3>in the money. So they're protecting them against making money.

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<v Speaker 3>That makes no sense. Listen, there have been frauds. There

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<v Speaker 3>have been lots of you know, shenanigans in this crypto space,

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<v Speaker 3>and those need to be prosecuted.

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<v Speaker 1>And they were.

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<v Speaker 3>They were prosecuted, they were pushed out of the system.

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<v Speaker 3>Sam Bankman's freeze in jail. Other people will go to jail.

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<v Speaker 3>And so I'm not saying this was a lilly white

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<v Speaker 3>industry any in any space, but this idea that we've

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<v Speaker 3>got to protect somebody from this new technology that cuts

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<v Speaker 3>out the middleman, that allows people to transact directly instead

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<v Speaker 3>of paying a fee, is just wrong thought of Okay, we.

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<v Speaker 4>Don't have a ton of time, but I do want

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<v Speaker 4>to get to one question on ethereum before we take

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<v Speaker 4>a little break. If we do see ETF for theoreum

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<v Speaker 4>approved in the coming months, which many people think we

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<v Speaker 4>will see, what will what are your thoughts on sort

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<v Speaker 4>of excitement and terms of inflows given that you can

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<v Speaker 4>already get exposure to crypto through ETFs and spot bitcoin ETFs,

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<v Speaker 4>Well we see the same type of enthusiasm.

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<v Speaker 3>Well, listen, we're going to see enthusiasm. What was so

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<v Speaker 3>unique about the Bitcoin ETF. It was the first time,

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<v Speaker 3>in lots of ways that the US federal government said

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<v Speaker 3>crypto's okay, you're okay to do crypto. Even though Gary

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<v Speaker 3>Gamzer didn't want to say it, he said it, and

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<v Speaker 3>the government said it.

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<v Speaker 1>Larry Fink said it.

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<v Speaker 3>Larry Think is the largest asset manager and the runs

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<v Speaker 3>the largest ass management company in the world. And so

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<v Speaker 3>the credentialization of bitcoining crypto that was kind of limit up.

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<v Speaker 3>This is a second step towards that. So it's great

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<v Speaker 3>for the ethereum community. It won't have the exact same impact,

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<v Speaker 3>but it'll have a big impact.

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<v Speaker 1>Right.

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<v Speaker 3>All of these ecosystems are about bringing new people into

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<v Speaker 3>the ecosystem, into the circus tent, right, and so this

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<v Speaker 3>is a new and easier way for lots of people

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<v Speaker 3>to participate in the ethereum community.

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<v Speaker 1>And so it's nothing but a that positive