Novogratz sold bitcoin on Wednesday and wishes he had sold more

Billionaire investor Mike Novogratz is exasperated by Bitcoin’s price swings.

Bitcoin soared as much as 22 per cent on Wednesday to its highest level since last January, before plunging more than US$1,800 in a matter of minutes.

The chief executive officer of Galaxy Digital Holdings Ltd. said he sold “a little bit” of Bitcoin on Wednesday, but added that he wishes he’d sold “a lot.”

“If you were perfect, you’d have sold a whole bunch yesterday,” he said in an interview with CNBC on Thursday. “When you go parabolic you have to.”

Last month, Novogratz predicted Bitcoin would consolidate between US$7,000 and US$10,000, but admitted excitement and momentum could carry it higher. His prognostication proved too conservative: the coin’s price reached as high as US$13,852 this week. He updated his prediction in the interview, saying it may trade between US$10,000 and US$14,000.

“It was a frenzy,” said Novogratz in the interview.

The swings continued on Thursday, with Bitcoin vacillating between gains of 4.8 per cent to drops of more than 10 per cent. Bitcoin was down about 9 per cent to US$11,601 as of 9:56 a.m. in New York.