Financial industry veteran George Ball who serves as Chairman of Sanders Morris Harris said investors need to allocate ‘a small part’ of their portfolio to cryptos. This statement marks a major departure from Ball’s previous stance towards digital currencies and assets. He said that cryptos like Bitcoin (BTC) are an ‘attractive’ part of a healthy and balanced portfolio.
While speaking to Yahoo Finance, Ball described cryptos like BTC as attractive options for investors seeking to hedge against currency debasement. The comments came as Congressional legislators mulled a $1.9T relief bill that would offer $1,400 in direct stimulus payments to Americans affected by Covid-19. Ball said:
“I’ve never said this before, and I’ve always been a blockchain, cryptocurrency, and Bitcoin opponent. But if you look now, the government cannot stimulate markets forever, the liquidity flood will end. With the cryptocurrencies, I think there is a fundamental hydra-headed shift that makes them attractive as a part, a small part, of almost any portfolio.”
If higher inflation results in currency debasement in the long term, Ball believes that the cryptos will offer a great deal of allure. Ball served as Chairman of Prudential Financial between 1982 and 1992. He started to change his stand on Bitcoin in August 2021 when he told investors that now was the time to seek some exposure to the digital asset.
At that time, Bitcoin was valued at around $12,000. Today, it is valued above $48,000 after peaking just above $58,000 in February. Wall Street veterans including Ball are now warming up to cryptos after they saw BTC pull a 5X profit stunt in less than six months.
Also, institutions like Morgan Stanley and JPMorgan are eyeing the Bitcoin market. Notably, firms like BNY Mellon have already begun to custody the digital asset.
