SoftBank Is Buying Bitcoin Again, After $130M Loss in 2018. Is This Time Different?

1 month ago

Japanese concern elephantine SoftBank is dipping its toes backmost into crypto by backing a caller bitcoin (BTC) concern vehicle, Twenty One Capital, successful conjunction with Tether, Bitfinex, and Cantor Fitzgerald.

For some, the SoftBank Group—which has $308.7 cardinal assets nether management—taking an involvement successful bitcoin is simply a invited improvement and different motion of mounting organization crypto adoption. After all, SoftBank functions much oregon little similar a Japanese sovereign wealthiness fund, according to Jeff Park, caput of alpha strategies astatine Bitwise.

But for seasoned observers, it could beryllium much of a déjà-vu than a breakthrough.

Flashback to 2019, SoftBank made headlines erstwhile its founder, Masayoshi Son, took a gigantic nonaccomplishment connected a idiosyncratic bitcoin investment.

Son had taken vulnerability to cryptocurrency successful precocious 2017, erstwhile the ICO mania was astatine its highest and bitcoin was trading astatine an all-time precocious of astir $20,000.

With bitcoin present trading astatine $93,000, Son’s concern would person been precise profitable had helium held on. But helium sold successful aboriginal 2018 arsenic bitcoin began to crash, resulting successful a $130 cardinal loss, according to the Wall Street Journal.

So the question investors could beryllium asking themselves present is, would this clip beryllium different?

To find a clue, let's instrumentality Oracle (ORCL) banal arsenic an example. Recently, U.S. President Donald Trump announced that SoftBank would beryllium portion of a $100 cardinal propulsion to physique AI infrastructure successful the U.S. successful conjunction with OpenAI and Oracle (ORCL).

One would accidental this is simply a bullish result for ORCL stock. However, since the announcement was made connected Jan. 22, coinciding with ORCL topping astatine $188 per share, the banal fell 28%, portion the Nasdaq has gone down 12% successful the aforesaid play of time.

Other extracurricular factors, including macro headwinds and geopolitical tension, could explicate the underperformance. It could besides beryllium conscionable a plain coincidence. However, 1 expert tied this Oracle selloff to Softbank's engagement successful the AI infrastructure project.

“When SoftBank enters an plus you own, you sell. I don't marque the rules,” Quinn Thompson, laminitis of crypto hedge money Lekker Capital, wrote successful a post connected X, citing the Oracle pullback.

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