Bitcoin does not make a great deal of sense, according to billionaire Lee Cooperman

By his own admission, Lee Cooperman still does not understand Bitcoin (BTC), despite its being up more than 300% since early December 2017.

Speaking to CNBC on Thursday, the billionaire investor alluded to people his age having a hard time understanding Bitcoin, adding:

“I’d be very careful with Bitcoin; I don’t think it makes a great deal of sense and if you are nervous about the world, gold — to me — would be a better place to store value.”

Cooperman’s statements on Thursday are in keeping with previous comments about Bitcoin. Back in December 2017 when BTC was on a bullish price advance, Cooperman expressed his confusion about BTC.

Earlier in 2021, Cooperman stated in an interview with Bloomberg surveillance that "On NFTs, bitcoin, stuff like that — I'm too old. I don't understand that stuff. It's crazy to me. It makes no sense. I'm a meat-and-potatoes guy, a stocks guy."

The Omega Advisors chairman also seemingly cast doubts on whether Bitcoin could become a global currency, stating that it was not in the interest of the United States to promote an alternative to the U.S. dollar.

Related: Sept. 7 is ‘Bitcoin Day’ in El Salvador as BTC becomes legal tender

On Sept. 7, El Salvador officially became the first nation to adopt Bitcoin as legal tender. Some market commentators say other Central American nations may be incentivized to follow El Salvador’s lead if the move yields significant economic benefits.

Cooperman’s argument that gold is a better store of value over Bitcoin flies in the face of their respective performances over the last decade.

While Bitcoin has delivered over 300,000% returns in the last decade, gold’s 10-year returns recently flipped negative. As of the time of writing, gold’s 10-year price-performance sits at negative 3%.

As previously reported by Cointelegraph, Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Mike McGlone has said that Bitcoin is set to replace gold.