Coatue Management founder Philippe Laffont says artificial intelligence (AI) and space now offer clearer bets than Bitcoin (BTC). He told CNBC he is increasingly unsure what to make of the asset.
The billionaire investor argued that picking a future $10 trillion company is easier than predicting Bitcoin’s path. He sees that debate as more solvable than Bitcoin’s long-run role.
Why the Coatue Founder Is Cooling on Bitcoin
Laffont built Coatue in 1999 after training under Julian Robertson at Tiger Management. That pedigree gives his cooling stance added weight.
Speaking on CNBC, he said scarce IPOs once funneled speculative money into Bitcoin. That is changing. Fresh listings and a fast-growing stablecoin payments boom now offer rival outlets for risk.
The timing stings. Bitcoin trades near $60,000, about half its record high near $126,000, while AI and space valuations climb.
Laffont’s math is simple. He said global market value could grow from about $120 trillion to $200 trillion. A single company at a 5% share would then be worth $10 trillion.
The candidates are forming. Nvidia (NVDA), the chip maker driving the AI boom, sits near $5 trillion. SpaceX priced the biggest IPO on record this month at $1.77 trillion, and its shares jumped 19% on debut.
Privately held Anthropic is valued at $965 billion, and OpenAI at $852 billion. Each is closing in on the roughly $1.2 trillion value of all Bitcoin.
This is not idle talk. Coatue and his brother Thomas led an earlier Anthropic round worth $380 billion and joined its latest raise. The fund also backs OpenAI.
BREAKING: Thomas Laffont, Co-Founder of Coatue
"The next Mag 7 may still be private"
With $70B AUM including $30B on the private side, Thomas & I discuss Anthropic, Private/Public Markets, AI Volatility, Citrini Paper, & more.
Not everyone shares his caution. BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, still recommends a small Bitcoin allocation for diversification.
Bitcoin’s ability to hold its value proposition while money chases AI and space is now the open question. For now, Laffont says he would rather bet elsewhere.
