Investor derides cryptocurrency as ‘religion’ over real currency

Remarks came as US Federal Reserve due to announce reduced bond buying

An emerging markets investor has derided the emergence of cryptocurrenciesas as a “religion”, and called for investors to return to trading in real currency.

Speaking with CNBC’s Squawk Box on Wednesday, well-known investor Mark Mobius decried the rise in digital currencies, which reached all time highs before he went on air.

Cryptocurrencies including Bitcoin, Solona and Ether are now worth more than the world’s dominant banks combined, with Bitcoin on its own worth more than Meta, the firm formerly known as “Facebook”.

Mr Mobius denied that cryptocurrencies were worthwhile in the long-run, however, and alleged: “It’s not an investment, it’s a religion”.

“People should not look at these cryptocurrencies as a means to invest. It’s a means to speculate and have fun. But then you got to go back to stocks at the end of the day,” Mr Mobius said.

The investor, who formerly worked for the World Bank’s Global Corporate Governance Forum and is founder of Mobius Capital Partners LLP, went on to argue that currency devaluation was the reason why real currency and trading in stocks was better.

“Stocks definitely are the answer because the devaluation of currency is not going to go away, which means inflation is going to continue at a high rate going forward,” said Mr Mobius.

He told CNBC in September: “If you look at the fact that money supply is up 30 per cent only in the US, you’ll realise that globally we have a lot of money sloshing around, and I think that money is going to continue going into the markets”.

The US central bank had been buying $120bn (£80bn) in bonds a month during the Covid outbreak to balance the market and avoid rising inflation, which decreases the worth of stocks.

Many have argued that cryptocurrencies are in fact better for investors, with billionaire Paul Tudor Jones telling CNBC last month that he thought Bitcoin was a better bet against inflation than gold.