"May well go down to zero": Oil billionaire bets on Bitcoin

"May well go down to zero"
Oil billionaire bets on Bitcoin

Bitcoin has a new fan: Kjell Inge Rokke. The billionaire is one of the richest Norwegians and actually in the oil business. And he believes Bitcoin will have a bright future – but the price could also implode.

While the sense and nonsense of Bitcoin is being debated, Kjell Inge Rokke has made a decision: The Norwegian company network, Aker, invests in the crypto currency. Aker is mainly in the oil business. But recently the conglomerate has also been active in renewable energies.

"Bitcoin can well fall to zero," "Bloomberg" quotes from a letter from Rokke to his shareholders. But this could also become the core of a new financial architecture. It is quite possible that a Bitcoin will one day be worth several million dollars. "The people who know Bitcoin best think that success is almost inevitable."

Violent exchange rate fluctuations

A Bitcoin currently costs around $ 50,100. In February the price had hit the $ 57,000 mark. A year ago it was around $ 8,000.

Opinions about Bitcoin in the financial industry differ widely. Some see the price gains of the crypto currency as a pure speculative bubble that will soon burst. Others consider bitcoins to be a sensible investment to protect against inflation, for example – and believe that the blockchain technology on which Bitcoin is based has great potential.

According to Bloomberg, Rokke's investment in Bitcoin is comparatively small. It will initially amount to the equivalent of $ 58 million. Aker not only wants to buy Bitcoin, but is also putting the money in companies that deal with cryptocurrency and blockchain. "The direction is clear," says Rokke. "The financial industry is being mixed up just like the oil industry. The question is not if, but when."

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