Bitcoin is increasingly ‘cultist’ and supported by ‘magical thinking’, says Barclays wealth investment chief

Bitcoin is increasingly ‘cultist’ and supported by ‘magical thinking’, says Barclays wealth investment chief

Bitcoin sounds "increasingly cultist" and could prove to be a "flightless bird" if interest rates rise, the chief investment officer of a major wealth manager has said.

Will Hobbs, the CIO Barclays Wealth & Investments, said his firm is not interested in the world's biggest cryptocurrency at the moment, despite its recent record-breaking rally. He added that he thought the currency was backed by a "lot of magical thinking."

Bitcoin soared above $50,000 for the first time last week and topped $53,000 on Friday. Increasing interest from big firms from Tesla to BlackRock has added fuel and legitimacy to the rally.

Yet retail investors remain the central drivers, according to analysts at JPMorgan. They said in a note last week that there had been "relatively little institutional flows" over the past 5 months.

Hobbs said Barclays Wealth Management was steering clear of the cryptocurrency mainly because of its wild price swings, a view shared by many money managers.

"It is multiples more volatile than our most white-knuckle-ride asset class, which is emerging market equities," he told Insider.

"In order for an asset to make it into our asset class toolkit, it has to satisfy a couple of things. One, it has to have a positive expected