Jeremy Grantham, the legendary co-founder of asset manager GMO, is at it again — calling Bitcoin a “useless, speculative mechanism” that will gradually become irrelevant.
Speaking on CNBC’s Squawk Box, Grantham said he’s never owned Bitcoin and doesn’t see that changing. He predicts the asset won’t crash dramatically but will erode slowly over years and decades. “All Bitcoin does is allow fraudsters to move money around,” he said.
His critique isn’t new, but it carries fresh weight given current market conditions. Bitcoin hit an all-time high near $126,000 in October 2025 and has since shed over half its value, hovering around $60,000. That’s the fifth-worst drawdown in Bitcoin’s history.
What’s particularly striking is the institutional context. U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs posted four consecutive days of net outflows totaling roughly $113.8 million last month. The 200-day moving average acted as hard resistance and triggered a 30% decline from that ceiling. Rising tensions between the U.S. and Iran pushed oil prices higher and killed any hope of near-term rate cuts.
On the other side of the trade, Mexican billionaire Ricardo Salinas Pliego has gone all-in — putting 70% of his investment portfolio into Bitcoin, up from just 10% in 2020. He’s even convinced his wife to mortgage their home to buy more. His thesis is simple: home that cost 4,000 BTC in 2016 now costs fewer than 30.
Grantham did offer one concession to the crypto side: gold, he admitted, has delivered solid gains over the same period. Whether that’s a compliment to gold or another subtle dig at Bitcoin depends on your perspective.
