'Shark Tank' Star Daymond John Has a Key Piece of Advice About Bitcoin

Bitcoin, Ripple and numerous other cryptocurrencies have been on a roller coaster of a ride lately, which should give pause to those curious about the hype. But according to Shark Tank investor and FUBU creator Daymond John, now is not the time to sleep on the blockchain bandwagon.

“You gotta start learning about it now,” John told Money in a recent interview. He noted that the cryptocurrency's rise is a lot like the dot com boom of the late '90s — even though there was a crash, it certainly didn't go anywhere.

John, who says he owns Bitcoin and Ethereum, goes against many traditional investors thinking about cryptocurrency — recently, Warren Buffett said it would “come to a bad ending,” and other vocal critics include JP Morgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon, who has said it's a "fraud" (but he's recently had a change of heart).

The big thing cryptocurrency newbies should consider John says is one of the cardinal rules of any sort of investing: Do your homework.

“I meet a lot of people with money to deploy,” he says. “Let’s say you want to invest in cryptocurrency or medtech or real estate. Every single one of those is going to have a vast amount of things you need to know. If you’re not investing in yourself [and learning], I can sell you anything I want in cryptocurrency or medtech. Remember, every single exchange of money, no matter what, someone has made money in it. People sell us [on our] insecurities.”

John has an estimated net worth of around $250 million, and currently runs brand consulting firm The Shark Group. Along with appearing on the latest season of Shark Tank, John is releasing his third book next week, Rise & Grind: Outperform, Outwork, and Outhustle Your Way to a More Successful and Rewarding Life.