The Wall Street Journal reports that the founder of Japanese conglomerate Softbank has lost $130 million in bitcoin investments – an investment that was made during the peak highs of the market following a conversation with Peter Briger, the co-chairman of asset management company Fortress Investment Group.
Masayoshi Son, whose net worth is estimated to be roughly $24 billion, is reported to have purchased bitcoin during the peak period of late 2017/early 2018, and sold it as the market plummeted over the course of 2018.
Bitcoin’s price currently hovers at around $5,600, and many experts expect a bull market to arrive in the next 6 months or so, and reports by Binance show increased activity.
Son’s company, Softbank, acquired the Fortress Investment Group in 2017, also acquiring the $150 million or so worth of crypto assets that the company was holding. The $130 million loss reported was a personal investment of Son’s.
Softbank has been working on a P2P mobile payments service that works across different carriers, having completed a Proof-of-Concept (PoC) for the purpose. In addition to this, the company is working on a blockchain-based online authentication service in partnership with US blockchain startup TBCASoft.
