- The GameStop fracas, which has seen the masses rise up against the financial elite, potentially forcing hedge fund Melvin Capital out of business
- SkyBridge Capital founder Anthony Scaramucci condoned the action and likened the ethos behind it to that of Bitcoin
- Does the GameStop situation really prove anything about Bitcoin, or does the Mooch have another agenda?
Anthony Scaramucci, the short-lived Trump press secretary and SkyBridge Capital founder, claimed this week that the retail-led short squeeze on GameStop is “proof of concept that Bitcoin is going to work”. However, with Scaramucci looking to increase the millions already invested into his company’s Bitcoin fund, should we not be viewing his bullishness with a healthy dose of skepticism?
Scaramucci Likens GameStop to Bitcoin
The GameStop fracas, which has involved a plethora of individual retail investors coming together to push up the price of the GME stock and force short-selling hedge fund Melvin Capital into a billion dollar loss, has led to praise among other retail investors and reinforced the power of the masses over the financial elite.
This, of course, opposes one of Bitcoin’s key tenets, which is something that Scaramucci seized on when being interviewed by Bloomberg on Wednesday:
The activity in GameStop is more proof of concept that Bitcoin is going to work. How are you going to beat that decentralized crowd? That to me is more affirmation about decentralized finance.
This all sounds like great PR for Bitcoin, but we have to question why Scaramucci is suddenly so keen to link the headline-making GameStop situation to Bitcoin. Does he have an agenda? The answer is yes. Earlier this month SkyBridge launched the Capital Bitcoin Fund, a Bitcoin investment fund aimed at institutional investors and which, according to Scaramucci, already has about $60 million in it. This takes SkyBridge’s overall Bitcoin exposure to around $385 million.
It is therefore in Scaramucci’s best interest to beef up Bitcoin’s potential as much and as often as he possibly can, which he has done very well. However short-lived his tenure, you don’t become White House press secretary without a sound knowledge of how to use the media to promote your cause.
The Mooch Has Played a Blinder
Scaramucci cleverly linked the headline-grabbing GameStop fracas to positivity around Bitcoin’s fundamentals in the hope of luring in more potential investors. In truth, the short squeezing of billion-dollar hedge funds is only loosely tied to Bitcoin’s core principles, but the Mooch has played a blinder in tipping the media interest Bitcoin’s way, which will ultimately benefit him and SkyBridge in the long term.
