Reuters
- Anthony Scaramucci compared bitcoin today to Amazon stock in 1999.
- The SkyBridge Capital boss trumpeted blockchain, Coinbase stock, and Elon Musk.
- Scaramucci criticized Sen. Elizabeth Warren for not grasping crypto's potential to help people.
Anthony Scaramucci championed blockchain technology, touted Coinbase stock, and compared bitcoin today to Amazon stock in 1999 in a recent RealVision interview.
The SkyBridge Capital boss, who lasted only 10 days as the White House's communications chief in 2017, also praised Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, slammed Sen. Elizabeth Warren, and bemoaned the climate crisis.
Here are Scaramucci's 14 best quotes from the interview, lightly edited and condensed for clarity:
1. "Blockchain is a delayering mechanism for our society and for our economy. You could start to delayer all of the middlemen that we've traditionally had for 5,000+ years, and you and I could actually transact with each other. We could take out third parties as big as Amazon and Facebook."
2. "The hedge fund managers are moving. They've decided that they're no longer machetes, but they're Swiss Army knives, and they need to adapt to the new world and get involved in the blockchain."
3. "I'm not a bitcoin or blockchain evangelist. I'm a blockchain understander and investor. I don't think Jesus and Moses got together, made a baby, and named it bitcoin. I just believe that this is going to move the world forward. Once you understand that, you've gotta be a part of it."
4. "We're so early. To use a sports metaphor, we're not even through spring training. We haven't even got pitchers and catchers." - suggesting the blockchain story is only beginning.
5. "Warren Buffett comes up and poo-poos Jeff Bezos. He says, 'Amazon has a larger market capitalization than Sears Roebuck, this company that has real stores and real activity, and it's losing money, and I'm a value investor, and I don't get it. I wouldn't touch this thing with a 10-foot pole.' You know what I did? I didn't touch it with a 10-foot pole." - recounting the Sun Valley conference in 1999 where Bezos and Buffett spoke to explain why he's so determined not to miss out on bitcoin.
6. "I am not going to be a fuddy-duddy and miss this seismic change in what's happening on planet Earth right now." - referring to the acronym "FUD" which stands for fear, uncertainty, and doubt.
7. "The Buffett of the mid-1990s would say, 'I'm not trading Michael Jordan for four scrubs and calling it diversification.'" - explaining why he isn't dumping bitcoin after it grew from 4% to 20% of one of his fund's portfolios.
8. "I'm all about unequal outcomes. You want to create Amazon and all that public good, and shoot yourself into space on your own rocket, mazel tov, God bless you. I hope there are 10 more Jeff Bezoses coming around the block and 20 more Elon Musks, God bless these guys." - Scaramucci wants equality of opportunity, not outcome.
9. "Elon Musk is a visionary. Listen to what this guy is doing, where he's going, and think about SpaceX and the global satellite distribution he's creating. This is going to be revolutionary. You're going to have 5G internet speeds at the top of Mount Everest before the decade is out."
10. "I'm blown away by Coinbase. How could you not want to own a little bit of COIN?" - highlighting the crypto exchange's brand, scale, growth, and management team.
11. "Elizabeth Warren, for all of her intelligence, could be the least knowledgeable person in the US Senate. You have a system right in front of you that can help millions of underbanked people. You're railing on it when you should be supporting it. It has all of the properties of progressivism that you like." - criticizing the senator for banging the drum on crypto regulation.
12. "Our generation is having a frat party with the environment. We want our grandchildren and our great-grandchildren to live in the frat house on Sunday morning, when the bong water is spilled on the rug, and there's a smell of beer, and there's a little bit of vomit in the living room. We're cooking the place."
13. "My majority partners are Bill de Blasio, Kathy Hochul, and Joe Biden, because they're taking 53% of my dough. I'm the minority partner in my own life. Don't you think I should be involved in the hiring decisions?" - urging people to engage in politics and vote for the people they want to spend their taxes.
14. "When I got bounced from the White House, I guess people wanted me to be really upset and down on myself. They wanted me to wake up in the morning and kick myself in the pants every morning. Whether it's a divorce, or you didn't do well in school, or you got fired from a job, whatever, who cares? Just enjoy your life. That is the number one thing."