In spite of the game of snakes and ladders that the crypto market has been playing for the past two years, Mike Novogratz feels that the troubles faced by the industry are coming to an end due to recent developments.

In an interview conducted at the Galaxy offices, Novogratz shared his thoughts on BlackRock’s spot Bitcoin ETF application, the launch of Worldcoin, and prospective investments for newcomers.

BlackRock Brought Bitcoin Back

According to Novogratz, the single most important thing to happen to the crypto industry this year is BlackRock’s bid to start a spot Bitcoin ETF – especially since Larry Fink, the CEO of BlackRock, was previously skeptical of cryptocurrencies at best.

“He got ‘orange-pilled,’ as we say. Orange pill is when you take a nonbeliever, and you make them a believer in Bitcoin. Larry was a nonbeliever. Now he says, hey, this is going to be a global currency. People around the world all trust it.”

If BlackRock, the world’s leading hedge fund going by assets under management (AUM), takes an interest in Bitcoin, the rest of the investment sector will follow, opined Novogratz, flashing his famous tattoo reminding him of the mistakes he made trusting Terraform Labs.

AI Hype Train Ripe for Investment

Novogratz went on to advise investors to stay bullish on AI-related investments, even if it’s too early to say whether the Worldcoin project will go anywhere.

“You don’t want to bet against Sam Altman right now. I think the price potentially can go a lot higher because there’s an AI hype cycle, (but) I don’t know if we will all use that as our identity.”

The Worldcoin initiative has been panned by critics as intrusive and most likely doomed to fail. The purpose of Altman’s new iris-scanning drive is allegedly made to ensure humans are recognized as such once AI output becomes indistinguishable from human speech.

However, in light of recent developments, this date seems to have been pushed back far, far into the future – if ever.

Novogratz also advised upcoming investors to buy Alibaba stock, as well as precious metals, Bitcoin, and Ethereum, as long as they have an appetite for risky investments. For more cautious investors, Novogratz suggests a portfolio with 30% of investments in the aforementioned markets, with the remaining sum put into bonds and index funds.