The Bizarre Story of How ‘Japan’s Warren Buffet’ Lost $130M Betting on Bitcoin

Masayoshi is a famous risk-taker in Japan. Often compared to Warren Buffet, or alternatively called ‘the Sage of Tokyo,’ he made his fortunes betting on obscure Chinese startups. One of those startups ended up being Alibaba, and his investment today is worth $50B. Today, Masayoshi runs SoftBank Vision Fund and is known for making many high-profile investments in companies like Uber, WeWork, and other Silicon Valley mega-companies. The billionaire and SoftBank founder was trying to strike gold again when he invested over $100M in Bitcoin (BTC). However, what followed was losses very few of us could imagine.

Masayoshi’s Bitcoin Gamble

Going full risk-on mode, Masayoshi did what any novice cryptocurrency investor would do: he went full FOMO. Masayoshi bought bitcoin at the absolute top as it was peaking near $20,000 in late 2017. He then proceeded to panic and reportedly dumped all his bitcoin as the price plummeted, selling near the bottom sometime in 2018. Since Masayoshi’s panic sell, the price of Bitcoin has recovered to around $5200 at the time of writing. Masayoshi ended up with $130M in personal losses. As the old fool’s adage goes — buy high, sell low. Hopefully, with the news of Masayoshi’s failed investment now public, it should make us all feel a little bit better with our mistakes during the bearish crypto-winter of 2018.

Cryptocurrency Regulations in Japan

The news of Son’s gamble comes at a time when Japan’s Financial Services Agency has been moving towards more rigorous cryptocurrency oversight. With the goal of ensuring investor protections, Japan is expected to put cryptocurrencies on the agenda in late June when the Group of 20 will meet in Tokyo. However, there’s more formal legislation being worked on in Japan’s agenda. A bill is being considered as an amendment to the existing Payment Services Act which would clarify the status of tokens as securities and make exchanges more transparent. Although some commentators have argued that Japan’s future investor protections could have saved Son’s haphazard investments — his loss is ultimately chalked up to the risks that all investors of cryptocurrencies face. Does the news of Son’s gamble make you feel a bit better about your losses? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.