Benzinga | Sep 30, 2021 12:57PM EDT

Bitcoin Has Replaced Gold: Chamath Palihapitiya On Hedging Against Inflation

Legendary investor Chamath Palihapitiya gave an update on Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC), a cryptocurrency he once said could hit $200,000.

What Happened: Palihapitiya was asked about inflation at CNBC's Delivering Alpha Conference Wednesday.

"Bitcoin, I think has effectively replaced gold and it will continue to do so," Palihapitiya told CNBC's Scott Wapner.

As a hedge against inflation, Palihapitiya called out Bitcoin and Solana (CRYPTO: SOL).

Palihapitiya named the two cryptocurrencies a "great counterintuitive hedge" against inflation.

Wapner asked Palihapitiya if he still liked the $200,000 valuation he suggested for Bitcoin earlier this year.

"It's very hard for me sitting here to give you a price prediction," Palihapitiya said.

While he didn't give a price target, Palihapitiya said he expects the market cap to continue to grow.

Bitcoin has a market capitalization of $811.5 million, according to Assetdash.com, at the time of writing. This places Bitcoin as the seventh most valuable publicly-traded company or cryptocurrency in the world.

Related Link: SPAC King Chamath Palihapitiya On Facebook, Tesla And Bitcoin

Why It's Important: Palihapitiya has been widely followed for investment advice and insight. The Social Capital founder and CEO is a former Facebook, Inc. (NASDAQ:FB) employee who was also early with investments in Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) and Palantir Technologies Inc (NYSE:PLTR).

The investor joins the crowd of financial leaders who see Bitcoin continuing to rise in value over time and offering a hedge against inflation.

Palihapitiya remaining bullish on Bitcoin could be a great positive for the cryptocurrency. The investor noted that he sold his shares of Tesla after years of bullishness and speaking positively on the company.

Palihapitiya also shared his thought on if the SEC should get involved in the cryptocurrency market: "I think it's very hard to kill. It's completely headless. It's entirely peer-to-peer. I think that's both scary and exhilarating," Palihapitiya said.

The investor said it will be tough for the SEC to legislate against cryptocurrency as it is "an iteration of the internet."

BTC Price Action: Bitcoin was trading up 3.36% at $43,915.40 at publication Thursday.

Photo: Christopher Michel via Flickr