SoftBank Reinvests in Bitcoin Following $130 Million Loss in 2018: Will This Be a Different Outcome?
Japanese investment giant SoftBank is re-entering the crypto space by supporting a new bitcoin (BTC) investment vehicle, Twenty One Capital, in collaboration with Tether, Bitfinex, and Cantor Fitzgerald. For many, SoftBank Group—which manages $308.7 billion in assets—showing interest in bitcoin signals increasing institutional adoption of cryptocurrency. Jeff Park, head of alpha strategies at Bitwise, likens SoftBank’s role to that of a Japanese sovereign wealth fund.
However, seasoned observers may view this development as a sense of déjà vu rather than a significant breakthrough. Revisiting 2019, SoftBank made headlines when its founder, Masayoshi Son, experienced a substantial loss on a personal bitcoin investment. Son entered the crypto market in late 2017 during the ICO frenzy, when bitcoin hit an all-time high of approximately $20,000. With bitcoin now trading at $93,000, Son’s investment would have been lucrative if he had held on. Unfortunately, he sold in early 2018 just as bitcoin began to decline, resulting in a $130 million loss, according to reports.
Investors may now be pondering whether this time will prove different. A useful comparison can be drawn with Oracle (ORCL) stock. Recently, U.S. President Donald Trump announced that SoftBank would participate in a $100 billion initiative to develop AI infrastructure in the U.S. alongside OpenAI and Oracle. This would generally be perceived as a positive sign for ORCL stock. However, since the announcement on January 22, which coincided with ORCL reaching $188 per share, the stock has fallen by 28%, while the Nasdaq has decreased by 12% in the same timeframe.
Various external factors, such as macroeconomic challenges and geopolitical tensions, may account for this decline. Alternatively, it could simply be a coincidence. Nonetheless, one analyst connected the Oracle selloff with SoftBank’s involvement in the AI infrastructure project. “When SoftBank enters an asset you own, you sell. I don’t make the rules,” remarked Quinn Thompson, founder of a crypto hedge fund, referencing the Oracle decline.
