TL;DR: Controversial pioneering internet entrepreneur Kim Dotcom apparently saw an investment opportunity much earlier than most, according to Bitcoin.com Executive Chair Roger Ver. Dotcom was sure a coming pandemic declaration was imminent back in late January, and advised Ver as to which industries might warrant shorting.

Kim Dotcom Advised Roger Ver to Short Airline Future

“Look what @KimDotcom told me on Jan 30th about #coronavirus,” Bitcoin pioneer Roger Ver told followers. “More people should listen to his business advice.” It includes a screenshot of a private conversation the two men had on that day, and a subsequent announcement by the World Health Organization (WHO) regarding the coronavirus pandemic.

Dotcom singled out airlines, large hotel chains, and even Disney as to be severely impacted the declaration’s implications. Those instincts proved to be spot-on, as all three have taken massive hits. Disney closed its parks shortly after (though presumably its other holdings, such as online streaming, are doing well). Airlines all over the world are either grounded or asking for giant government bailouts. Hotels are being repurposed in some countries as hospitals.

Critics shot back, however, other, more public Dotcom calls didn’t go so well in retrospect. Back in late August of 2017, for example, Dotcom predicted BTC would bust well-above $5,000 to $50,000 and even $100,000 per coin, assuming it would go “mainstream” and then capture a $2 trillion market capitalization. Needless to point out, neither happened (though, to be fair, he didn’t put a date on his prediction of nearly 3 years ago).

Dotcom and Ver have become rather cordial in the last couple of months after Dotcom flatly told BTC maximalists during a video live stream their dismissing of Ver and his enthusiasm for Bitcoin Cash were both misplaced. “I met with Roger and I sat down with him,” Dotcom recounted in mid-January of this year, “and I understood where he was coming from. He shared with me some of the innovations that he’s working on. I think the guy at the moment, in terms of his way of thinking and where he is in his innovation, is a step ahead. I feel it would be stupid to ignore someone like that … that helps to use whatever he creates to make the entire space better.” As for shorting coronavirus news a few weeks later, Ver didn’t disclose whether he acted on Dotcom’s hunch.

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