Prominent hedge fund manager Doug Kass recently took aim at cryptocurrency bull Tom Lee, arguing that his short-term predictions "imply a degree of precision that is fatuous, feckless and non-rigorous."
According to Kass, Lee is simply making uber-bullish predictions in order to gain media attention.
He recalled that the Russell 2000 Index, a small-cap U.S. stock market index, is now down 3% over the past two weeks and is flat since mid-September. However, the Foundstrat cofounder, as Kass recalls, previously predicted that the index would surge by 40%.
Kass further quoted legendary investor Warren Buffett, who argued that short-term market forecasts were "poison" that has to be "kept locked up in a safe space."
Staunch permabull
Lee's price forecasts have long been a source of some ridicule. In late 2018, Fundstrat seemingly threw in the towel amid an extremely brutal bear market. Lee stated that Fundstrat was tired of people asking about crypto prices, adding that the firm would stop naming any specific time frames.
However, Fundstrat's prediction hiatus did not last long. In early 2020, Fundstrat's Lee (accurately) predicted that Bitcoin could surge by 100% by the end of the year. Lee continued to make routine bullish forecasts throughout the years.
During his most recent CNBC appearance, Lee predicted that the price of Bitcoin could reach $200,000 by the end of the year.
Audacious crypto bet
Lee attracted significant media attention earlier this year after spearheading Bitcoin mining and hosting firm BitMine Immersion and leading its transition into the largest Ethereum treasury company.
Bitmine's crypto holdings currently stand at nearly $11 million, which makes it the largest ETH treasury firm by a large margin.
However, according to a recent report by Bloomberg, the bet is already unravelling, with Bitmine seeing more than $1.3 billion in paper losses.
The permabull previously forecasted that the price of ETH coud reach $16,000 by the end of the year.
Dan Burgin
Vladislav Sopov
U.Today Editorial Team