SoftBank is buying Bitcoin again after losing 130 million dollars in 2018!
The Japanese investment giant SoftBank is making a new foray into the cryptocurrency market by backing a new investment vehicle in $BTC called Twenty One Capital, in collaboration with major players like Tether, Bitfinex, and Cantor Fitzgerald. This move has been interpreted by some as a positive sign of the growing institutional adoption of Bitcoin, given the magnitude of the assets managed by SoftBank, even comparing it to a Japanese sovereign fund.
However, for seasoned observers, this news evokes a déjà-vu, recalling SoftBank's past experience in the crypto space. In 2019, it was reported that SoftBank founder Masayoshi Son suffered a significant loss of $130 million from a personal investment in Bitcoin. Son had entered the cryptocurrency market in late 2017, just at the peak of ICOs and when Bitcoin reached its historical high of nearly $20,000. Although Bitcoin is now trading around $93,000, which would have meant substantial gains had he held onto his investment, Son sold in early 2018, just as the price began to decline.
The question that arises now is whether this new foray by SoftBank will have a different outcome. Some analysts have pointed out a troubling pattern when observing the recent performance of Oracle (ORCL) shares after SoftBank's participation in a $100 billion AI infrastructure initiative was announced. Despite this collaboration with OpenAI and Oracle seeming positive for Oracle’s shares, since the announcement, the stock has experienced a 28% drop, surpassing the 12% decline of the Nasdaq during the same period.