Internet entrepreneur Kim Dotcom has suggested his followers short the British pound sterling, to make some “easy money” in the event of a no-deal Brexit.
Dotcom tweeted his hot tip on Tuesday, adding that a no-deal Brexit “will drive [the pound sterling] down hard.”
The Megaupload founder’s advice was compared to ‘doing a Soros,’ as many of his followers drew similarities with George Soros’ famous shorting of the pound in 1992, which netted him a billion dollars.
On September 16, 1992, which came to be known as Black Wednesday, Soros bet a large sum of money against the overvalued sterling. Shorting allows an investor to profit from the price of a commodity going down. Other hedge funds heard about it and followed suit. When the London markets opened, billions of pounds had been sold; the Bank of England tried to buy up the pound to prop up the price but its value remained low. Ultimately, the UK had to increase interest rates and pull the pound from the European Exchange Rate Mechanism (ERM).
Also on rt.com PM Boris Johnson addresses MPs for first time, signalling new tougher approach to BrexitThe pound is still reeling after the Brexit referendum in June 2016 and on Monday fell to its lowest level in a single day for 28 months, continuing to fall on Tuesday amid fears of a no-deal exit from the EU under new prime minister Boris Johnson.
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