Mike Novogratz challenges Steve Hanke after the top economist bashes bitcoin as a 'fool's game'

• Galaxy Digital CEO Mike Novogratz has pushed back against economist Steve Hanke's Twitter criticism of bitcoin.
• Novogratz defended the cryptocurrency after Hanke slammed it as a speculative asset and a "fool's game."
• "It's been safer than JPM and Google. Run the numbers yourself," Novogratz told Hanke.

Crypto billionaire Mike Novogratz and top economist Steve Hanke have gotten into a Twitter debate over bitcoin.

The Galaxy Digital CEO has pushed back against Hanke's criticism of the world's largest cryptocurrency as a "fool's game."

"Bitcoin is a highly speculative asset, not a currency. Unreliability, lack of stability, and susceptibility to fraud will continue to plague this cryptocurrency. Don't be tricked, buying Bitcoin is a fool's game," Hanke said in a Tuesday tweet.

Novogratz replied: "Steve it has outperformed all assets ytd, over 2 years and 3 years on a risk adjusted weighting (sharpe ratio) It's been safer than JPM and Google. Run the numbers yourself."

Novogratz has long been a crypto bull, predicting the token's price will eventually hit $500,000 in five years. He's also defended the digital-asset world against the rise of artificial intelligence, saying he's shocked US regulators are clamping down on crypto and not AI, in a fourth-quarter conference call on Tuesday.

His backing for bitcoin comes as the cryptocurrency enjoys its best quarter in two years through the recent banking turmoil, with some investors increasingly viewing it as an alternative to traditional financial assets. It has surged nearly 40% since early March.

Bitcoin is up about 6% in the last 24 hours, trading at $28,399.28, per CoinMarketCap.

But like Hanke, not everyone's on board with bitcoin. The SEC has also said crypto assets are speculative and risky, and warned they could spur significant losses for investors. "The only money you should put at risk with any speculative investment is money you can afford to lose entirely," the SEC warned.