Robert Kiyosaki — author of the 32 million-copy bestseller Rich Dad Poor Dad — has taken a coy stance on Bitcoin’s David and Goliath-like battle with the Fed.
Kiyosaki — whose book has reportedly sold 32 million copies across 40 countries and has an estimated net worth of $80 million — made his remarks during an interview with Bloomberg on Oct. 22.
Bitcoin taking on “one of the most powerful banks ever created”
Kiyosaki is no stranger to controversy: his bestseller remains one of the most well-known personal finance books ever written, yet he has also become mired in several scandals, notably over his financial education firm’s bankruptcy filing in 2012.
During the interview, Kiyosaki reiterated his belief in investing in assets such as gold, oil and real estate. When asked for his perspective on new asset classes, particularly Bitcoin, he gave an arch response:
“I think it’s so interesting. they’re taking on the FED, one of the most powerful banks ever created. And they’re messing into their territory. That’s like me taking on McDonald’s. So I think they’re gonna step on them. I think it’s a very exciting time.”
Kiyosaki’s perspective as an investor was resolute from a personal standpoint, yet he broadly encouraged investors to follow their personal instincts and gut:
“Personally, I’m a technosaurus rex. I can barely use a cellphone. So I’d best stay out of cryptocurrencies. So if you’re a young person and you like crypto, it might be your place. Again, everything is ‘just do what you love.’ I love businesses, I love gold [...] I love using debt as money — because in 1971 the dollar became debt — and I love paying no taxes legally.”
While Kiyosaki is a critic of corporate debt-driven finance, he advocates for an opportunistic and deft approach to the systemic volatility it generates, as manifested in major boom and bust cycles. He told Bloomberg his predicted that the next downturn will be sparked by a crisis in the pensions sector between 2022 and 2025.
Sleepwalking into crisis
Earlier this week, former Bank of England governor Mervyn King said the world was “sleepwalking” into a financial crisis even worse than that of 2008.
As part of a newly-revitalized quantitative easing tack, the Fed has injected $210 billion into the economy since mid-September of this year. King warned that:
“By sticking to the new orthodoxy of monetary policy and pretending that we have made the banking system safe, we are sleepwalking towards that crisis.”
Gold advocates like Kiyosaki and proponents of Bitcoin’s digital scarcity alike remain staunch critics of central banks’ interventionist policies.