#451: Mike Novogratz on Bitcoin, Macro Trading, Ayahuasca, Redemption, and More

Write down on a piece of paper the people that you think will be at your funeral when you die at 80. Worry about what those people think. All those other people—they don't really think about you that much.

We're trading [at] roughly $9600 dollars per Bitcoin right now [May 18, 2020]. I think we'll take out $10,000 soon and end the year closer to $20,000—the old highs.

Barring people that have bipolar [disorder] or mental health issues, would an Ayahuasca trip not benefit someone? As much as it might be tough and scary, should we put every politician in the world through that experience before they're allowed to serve? I kept coming up with 'yes.'

Many of the stories we have—or narratives about ourselves and the world—may not be stories we're aware are stories; they're just our reality. They're often stories that were given to us inadvertently or purposefully, and we're not aware that we've absorbed them.

There are half a million people that go to bed every night in a jail cell solely because they can't afford to pay bail. The average bail we pay is somewhere close to $1,800. Most people in America don't have $500. Most people getting arrested don't have access to $500. So, they stay in jail. They're seven times more likely to plead guilty if they're in jail than if they're not in jail.

You look at the German prisons, and you'd give them a 95 out of 100, and you'd give Norway a 99 out of 100, and we're not a 60 out 100; we're like a 14. We're that bad.

We have 2.3 million people in jail or prison ... I think that should be 800,000—that's a big difference. We have 5 million people that go to prison every year ... It's like a revolving door. They stay in an average of 45 days. 2.5 million of them are going there just for violating parole, which is bizarre.

For stores of value—and Bitcoin is really becoming a store of value—they only become stores of value when people believe they are, so it's a belief system. Bitcoin is not just the code; it's really the social construct. I say it's this; you say it's this; therefore, it is this.

The world's best speculators or macro traders have two things in common: They have this pattern recognition intuition—I put that in one bucket—and then they have discipline. I should say three things... They have an unbelievable competitive spirit.

95% of women in prison have been raped.