In a recent interview, subprime short investor and billionaire portfolio manager John Paulson criticized the volatile nature of digital assets while advocating for investments in traditional safe-havens such as gilt.

The co-founder of Paulson & Co, a New York-based business firm launched in 1994, Paulson was a historic beneficiary of the United States housing financial marketplace plummet of 2008 afterwards placing a legendary successful short position.

However, Paulson recently took the decision to devolve his hedge fund into a family office afterward a 76.v% reduction in avails under management, from a peak of $38 billion in 2022 to $ix billion in 2022.

In the interview, Paulson was asked his views on the emerging cryptocurrency market, to which he claimed that the assets have a "limited supply of nothing" and "no intrinsic value," citing the heightened volatility of the nascent space in comparison with the relatively stable traditional markets every bit a reason to be deterred from investing.

He too mentioned his inability to identify the same asymmetrical patterns noted in his legendary trade a decade before, an opportunity where the market seemingly offered picayune to no downside risk, while providing enormous upside potential.

Paulson concluded his thoughts on the question of believing in cryptocurrencies with the stern response: "Cryptocurrencies, regardless of where they're trading today, volition eventually show to be worthless. Once the exuberance wears off, or liquidity dries upward, they will become to zip. I wouldn't recommend anyone invest in cryptocurrencies."

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When asked nearly the prospect of gilt as a worthy investment strategy in the current financial climate, Paulson noted the increased money supply that entered the markets in response to the COVID-19-related economic fallout, "up near 25% terminal year," believing that this is the best indicator of futurity inflation.

In this case, Paulson's inclination to invest in the safe-haven nugget golden volition act every bit a hedge against his expected decline of traditional fiat currencies in the coming years.

Paulson's injurious stance of the cadre capabilities of cryptocurrencies echoes the sentiment of fellow billionaire investor Warren Buffet, who claimed that they were "rat poison squared" in a verbal tirade in 2022.