CNBC Contributor Tells Bitcoin Skeptic to ‘Piss Off’ During Heated Exchange
What one thinks of bitcoin and other decentralized cryptocurrencies tends to have strong correlations with one’s ideology, so it is unsurprising that proponents and skeptics alike often approach the topic with a zeal they do not reserve for traditional markets. This phenomenon was on full display during a recent CNBC segment, in which two panelists engaged in a verbal brawl over bitcoin’s recent performance. The network edited out the heated exchange from its video archive, but the rest of the clip has been preserved on YouTube. Evercore ISI technical analyst Rich Ross opened the segment — which aired last Thursday — by explaining why he believes cryptocurrency is a bad buy, citing the market’s recent ~50 percent correction, the low average age of cryptocurrency investors, as well as the inaccurate claim that ethereum has only been trading for approximately six months.”Let’s not even compare this to stocks for a second. What bothers me, we’re staring at the greatest bull market in the last 20 years, where you can double your money in like the best industrial companies — like a Boeing, which is sort of pillaring here for no good reason, up over 200% over the past two years and we’re talking about this stuff here that’s lost over 50% of its value in a month,” Ross said. This analysis, of course, ignores that bitcoin is still up more than 1,000 percent for the past 12 months — even after this recent correction. CNBC regular Dan Nathan — a cryptocurrency proponent — took offense at Ross’ comments, arguing that his claim that cryptocurrency had no fundamentals was akin to that of Web 1.0 skeptics.”You guys like it when we fight, so let’s fight for a little bit,” Ross retorted. “You’ve been bearish [on stocks] for two years…. You’re not helping people make money. Let’s call it what it is.”The other panelists started to defend Nathan, who quickly jumped back in.”You don’t know what I’ve done, you don’t know what my call is, so go piss off, seriously,” he told Ross. Fast Money host Melissa Lee rushed to end the segment, but not before Ross landed one last blow.”A tough moment here on Fast Money,” he quipped. Featured image from Shutterstock