Dave Ramsey is a popular American radio host known for giving personal finance advice. He is especially known for his pragmatism and honesty as well as his breadth of knowledge in the finance and investing sphere. Thousands have turned to Ramsey for advice on debt consolidation, budgeting, investing and essentially any other issues related to personal finance.
However, despite his popularity and experience, Ramsey could be wrong with a recent blog post about cryptocurrency. In the post, Ramsey is direct, saying that investing in crypto is not a good idea. Additionally, in his trademark style, he said, "You could lose your shirt (and pants) messing around with crypto. Steer clear, Big Tuna. Head for open waters. Crypto is risky business."
Ramsey also added that when it comes to crypto, you should "just say no," reminiscent of former First Lady Nancy Reagan's campaign against drugs in the 1980s.
Ramsey is clearly against crypto. However, is this view entirely correct? What are the experts saying? Benzinga takes a closer look at what industry insiders and finance experts are saying about Ramsey's crypto skepticism.
Not everyone agrees with Ramsey's anti-crypto stance. For example, analysts at Standard Chartered see Ethereum (ETH) appreciating to $4,000 by the end of May because of upcoming upgrades to the chain as well as the potential for ETH spot exchange-traded funds (ETFs) to receive approval. This would bring in a new wave of institutional investors and could cause the price to continue rising. From ETH's current price of around $3,400, this would mark a nearly 18% increase in just a few months.
Additionally, the fintech company Finder conducted a survey analyzing the market sentiment from several dozen experts in the field who gave an average price target of around $87,000. Many believe that now is a good time to buy crypto because a soon-to-com Bitcoin halving could further propel prices.
Another point that Ramsey fails to mention is that there is no minimum investment for cryptocurrency; you can invest $10 or $10 million across a variety of cryptocurrency brokers. This means that you can tailor investments to your own specific goals and risk profile. If you are reasonable and understanding of your situation, crypto does not have to be something you simply "just say no" to.
It is hard to argue against the prominence of Bitcoin and other tokens. They are constantly in the headlines and have performed extremely well over the past several months. Bitcoin is up nearly 140% in the last six months alone. Dogecoin was another big story, appreciating more than 1,300% in just one month in 2021. Many are now as they are restarting their crypto portfolio — will dogecoin go up?
Though Ramsey's article is a bit sensationalized, mentioning stories of how people's lives have been ruined by crypto, it does have some merit. Crypto is extremely volatile and presents a major risk for investors. However, it may be too early to simply dismiss it as something to never consider; if you can put some extra cash into some promising projects, you could be sitting pretty in the future.
