Michael Burry, the investor famous for predicting the 2008 financial crisis, warned that Bitcoin’s The recent decline could have ripple effects throughout the market, especially gold and silver.
Burry said in a Substack post on Monday that the decline in cryptocurrencies could force institutional investors and corporate finance executives to sell positions in other assets to cover losses.
“Up to $1 billion in precious metals was liquidated at the end of the month as cryptocurrency prices fell,” Burry wrote, referring to losses in gold and silver at the end of January. He suggested that speculators and financial managers rush to reduce risk by selling profitable assets in tokenized gold and silver futures.
Bitcoin briefly fell below $73,000 on Tuesday, down 40% from recent highs. Burry said the plunge exposed the weak foundations of cryptocurrencies and threatened companies like Strategy (MSTR) with large holdings.
“Bitcoin doesn’t have any natural use case reason to slow or stop the decline,” he said. Burry warned that if prices fell to $50,000, mining companies could face bankruptcy and the tokenized metals futures market could “fall into a black hole with no buyers.”
Burry believes that Bitcoin’s promotion as a digital safe haven and alternative to gold has failed.
“Nothing in treasury assets is permanent,” he added, dismissing the idea that corporate or institutional holdings of Bitcoin would provide lasting support.
Bitcoin’s recent bull run has been driven by the launch of spot ETFs and a wave of institutional interest. But Bury sees these as temporary powers rather than signs of real adoption. In his view, Bitcoin remains speculative and has no intrinsic value or widespread utility.
While Bury’s bearish views often spark debate, they have proven prescient before. For investors with cryptocurrency exposure, his warning raises questions about what would happen if Bitcoin’s decline triggered another wave of forced selling in the market.
