Billionaire investor Howard Marks took aim at bitcoin Wednesday, doubting the cryptocurrency's future in remarks at the eighth annual CNBC and Institutional Investor Delivering Alpha conference in New York.
"It's not an investment ... it's a trade," Marks said. "In the long run, I think it will be shown not to have any substance."
He said those who are buying bitcoin are only doing so "because they think someone will buy it from them at a higher price."
"Not because they can specify its intrinsic benefits. Not because they can judge the intrinsic value. But only because they think it's going up," Marks said.
Marks' Oaktree Capital had $121 billion of assets under management as of March. The investor has a net worth of $2 billion, according to Forbes.
"This is what we called, when I was a kid, 'the greater fool theory,'" Marks added.
Bitcoin has had a rough 2018: The digital currency's total market capitalization has fallen roughly 50 percent, with a current value of more than $125 billion, according to CoinMarketCap. Bitcoin crashed from $20,000 at the end of 2017 to under $6,000 by June.
It has seen a resurgence recently, jumping more than 10 percent Tuesday and breaking above the $7,000 level to reach its highest level since June 9th, according to Coinbase.
WATCH: Bitcoin hits 7-week high on Coinbase
