Hot air? Eyes turn to Helium as Pershing Square CEO Bill Ackman tweets praise for HNT
As the collapse of the cryptocurrency trading platform FTX appears to have eroded trust in the industry, one traditional finance investor came to the sector’s defence.
But the token he chose to endorse raised eyebrows in crypto circles.
Bill Ackman, the billionaire CEO and founder of hedge fund management firm Pershing Square Capital Management, revealed he was a small, direct investor in a handful of crypto projects including Helium (HNT) – which was revealed earlier this year to have claimed working relationships with firms that it didn’t have.
Ackman later clarified that “he was not advocating for any particular crypto project”.
Helium (HNT) to US dollar
Crypto sceptic no more
“The telephone, the internet, and crypto share one thing in common. Each technology improves on the next in terms of its ability to facilitate fraud,” Ackman wrote in a Twitter thread that has since gone viral on Crypto Twitter. He added:
The hedge fund manager admitted that he first believed cryptocurrencies were worthless and likened them to “a modern-day version of tulip mania without the aesthetic benefits”.
Helium (HNT) confusion
Ackman added that he later began to understand how a token could build intrinsic value over time and listed two examples of crypto projects, one of which was HNT. He added:
However, it didn’t go unnoticed by Twitter commentators that Lime Bike never partnered with Helium.
“Sooo, this is awkward, but Lime didn’t use Helium,” tweeted Anthony Bardaro.
Helium became embroiled in a controversy in July when it was found out for claiming to have had working relationships with two client companies when it hadn’t, reported Mashable. One of these included Lime Bike, which denied having an ongoing relationship.
“Beyond an initial test of its product in 2019, Lime has not had, and does not currently have, a relationship with Helium,” Lime’s spokesperson told Mashable at the time.
Following the Crypto Twitter backlash, Ackman dialed down on his HNT endorsement.
“To be clear, I am not advocating for any particular crypto project. Rather, I am making the case that crypto can facilitate potentially useful and important businesses that heretofore could not exist,” he tweeted.
“That said, the success of any individual project is a function of the ultimate demand for its products and/or services and the quality and the execution of its management.”
To be clear, I am not advocating for any particular crypto project. Rather, I am making the case that crypto can facilitate potentially useful and important businesses that heretofore could not exist. That said, the success of any individual project is a function of the ultimate https://t.co/SvpQMHrt0y
— Bill Ackman (@BillAckman) November 20, 2022
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