ICO investors to get wiped out in crypto 'mania': Hedge fund manager K Bass

Hedge fund manager Kyle Bass just took sides in the raging battle over the viability of the cryptocurrency market.

Calling many of the dozens of initial coin offerings that have taken place this year “frauds,” the Hayman Capital Management founder warned in a Bloomberg Television interview that investors will face steep losses.

“A whole bunch of people are going to lose a lot of money,” Bass said in an interview with Erik Schatzker. “These ICOs -- you’re going to see a bunch of them go completely broke. A bunch of them are frauds, and that is going to be problematic for all the people that just rushed in.”

This year, more than $2 billion has flowed into ICOs — which allow cryptocurrency start-ups to raise funds by issuing their own tokens — according to Coinschedule.com.
 

Once the “gold rush” settles down, Bass said, cryptocurrencies could be a viable asset class.