Bitcoins <\/p>\n
Updated Apr 25, 2025, 7:09\u202fp.m. <\/span>Published Apr 24, 2025, 6:17\u202fp.m. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Japanese investment giant SoftBank is dipping its toes back into crypto by backing a new bitcoin (BTC) investment vehicle, Twenty One Capital, in conjunction with Tether, Bitfinex, and Cantor Fitzgerald.<\/p>\n For some, the SoftBank Group\u2014which has $308.7 billion assets under management\u2014taking an interest in bitcoin is a welcome development and another sign of mounting institutional crypto adoption. After all, SoftBank functions<\/a> more or less like a Japanese sovereign wealth fund, according to Jeff Park, head of alpha strategies at Bitwise.<\/p>\n But for seasoned observers, it could be more of a d\u00e9j\u00e0-vu than a breakthrough.<\/p>\n Flashback to 2019, SoftBank made headlines when its founder, Masayoshi Son, took a gigantic loss on a personal bitcoin investment.<\/p>\n Son had taken exposure to cryptocurrency in late 2017, when the ICO mania was at its peak and bitcoin was trading at an all-time high of around $20,000.<\/p>\n With bitcoin now trading at $93,000, Son\u2019s investment would have been very profitable had he held on. But he sold in early 2018 as bitcoin began to crash, resulting in a $130 million loss<\/a>, according to the Wall Street Journal.<\/p>\n So the question investors could be asking themselves now is, would this time be different? <\/p>\n To find a clue, let’s take Oracle (ORCL) stock as an example. Recently, U.S. President Donald Trump announced that SoftBank would be part of a $100 billion push to build AI infrastructure in the U.S. in conjunction with OpenAI and Oracle (ORCL). <\/p>\n One would say this is a bullish outcome for ORCL stock. However, since the announcement was made on Jan. 22, coinciding with ORCL topping at $188 per share, the stock fell 28%, while the Nasdaq has gone down 12% in the same period of time.<\/p>\n Other outside factors, including macro headwinds and geopolitical tension, could explain the underperformance. It could also be just a plain coincidence. However, one analyst tied this Oracle selloff to Softbank’s involvement in the AI infrastructure project.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen SoftBank enters an asset you own, you sell. I don’t make the rules,\u201d Quinn Thompson, founder of crypto hedge fund Lekker Capital, wrote in a post<\/a> on X, citing the Oracle pullback.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n