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‘I Thought I Was The Smartest Person’ – Allianz’s El-Erian On His USD 19K BTC Sale

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Tim Alper

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Tim Alper

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Tim Alper is a British journalist and features writer who has worked at Cryptonews.com since 2018. He has written for media outlets such as the BBC, the Guardian, and Chosun Ilbo. He has also worked...

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Last updated:

June 26, 2023

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Investors who cashed in on their bitcoin (BTC) holdings before the token hit the USD 20,000 threshold have been eating humble pie – with one admitting, “When I sold bitcoin at USD 19,000. I thought I was the smartest person around.”

The admission came in an interview with Mohamed El-Erian, a prominent economic adviser at Allianz and the President of Queens’ College at the University of Cambridge conducted by the Centre for the Study of Financial Innovation.

He stated,

“I was asked on a TV show when bitcoin was at USD 19,000, ‘Would you be a buyer?’ And I said I would not buy until the price goes [down] to below USD 5,000.”

El-Erian then went on to explain that he did indeed buy at USD 5,000, but later proceeded to cash in when the token reached the USD 19,000, thinking that his move had been “smart.”

However, he admitted that he had failed to look beyond the “technicals.” He continued,

“Little did I know that in the next four weeks, it would double in price and make me look like a complete idiot!”

And the economist added that a BTC takeover of the global economy might not happen – or take the form many people predict, opining,

“I’ve always believed that cryptocurrencies will belong in a payments ecosystem, not become a global currency.”

El-Erian has remained relatively upbeat on crypto for several years, and was one of the few mainstream voices who predicted a comeback for bitcoin and the rest during the dark days of late 2018 – the heart of a long crypto winter.

In September 2018, he predicted that the world would soon see “widespread adoption, by both the private and public sector.”

Meanwhile, ARK Investment’s CEO and Chief Investment Officer Cathie Wood recently spoke about an observation from Renaissance Macro Research Chairman Jeff deGraaf, who opined that he had “never seen anything like” the BTC recovery.

She added that deGraaf had commented that it “usually takes a generation, and by that we mean 10-20 years” for an asset to return to a peak in the way BTC has in recent months.

Wood added that as states attempt to “inflate their way out of” the current economic crisis, crypto could provide a hedge, commenting,