The Bitcoin price (BTC) began to bubble up from the $27,900 handle on Sunday, Apr 9. By Monday, it had entered into full rally territory, shooting up to $30,450 by Tuesday.
But most of Jim Cramer’s audience probably missed the opportunity to make a cool 23% gain as he CNBC “Mad Money” host told viewers to avoid Bitcoin on Mar 14.
Cramer Does It Again
Moreover, Cramer told CNBC watchers that they should sell any BTC they have:
“Bitcoin went up today. And I would argue now it can’t even be held in banks. Bitcoin is a strange animal. I will say point blank: I think it’s being manipulated up. It was being manipulated the whole time by Sam Bankman-Fried. Please don’t assume therefore, that it’s not still being manipulated. And I would sell my Bitcoin right into this rally. I mean I had been a believer at one time in Bitcoin. Not here, not now.”
As it turns out, the bitcoin price soared in the month since Jim Cramer told viewers to sell. The day he offered this opinion about the king cryptocurrency, BTC closed at $24,746. Moreover, the cryptocurrency had just gained 22.58% in a four-day run up from $20,187 on Mar 10. That’s why Cramer said he would sell right into the rally.
Any CNBC watchers who took his advice and sold their BTC missed out on another 23% leg up from the Mar 14 price. All because Jim Cramer said he thinks it’s being manipulated. He didn’t have any real reason to think that, not one he shared with his audience anyway.
Why Cramer’s Advice About BTC Should Be Taken with A Grain of Salt
All Jim had to offer by way of argument was, “It was being manipulated the whole time by Sam Bankman-Fried.” Therefore, Cramer argued, it’s possible that someone could still be manipulating it. That’s a pretty flimsy reason.
It’s also a specious argument because it simply smears Bitcoin by association with Sam Bankman-Fried. But Cramer isn’t arguing that Bankman-Fried is still manipulating prices. SBF is under house arrest facing trial, and crypto markets had already priced in FTX-Alameda et al. by its January rally.
Furthermore, in the first place, it would be more accurate to say Bitcoin manipulated FTX up, not the other way around. Even as big as FTX got, it was never the deciding factor in the bitcoin price.
Meanwhile, Jim Cramer’s own stock-picking record leaves much to be desired. An in-depth study of Cramer’s stock picks by researchers at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania found that over 17 years, Cramer’s picks produced an annualized 4.08% return over a period that the S&P 500 Index gained 7.07%.
Anyone who took Cramer’s advice about Bitcoin in January, when he called crypto a “sham” while BTC traded at $20,688, has missed out on a 46.8% gain.
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