Scott Minerd, chief investment officer of Guggenheim Partners, said the cryptocurrency action reminded him of Tulipmania, one of the most famous financial bubbles and crashes of all time.

Tulipmania, the world’s first recorded financial bubble, occurred in Holland from late 1636 to early 1637 when tulip prices increased 12-fold before returning to normal levels.

“Crypto turned out to be Tulipmania,” Minerd tweeted Wednesday evening. “As prices rise, tulip bulbs and #crypto currencies multiply until supply overwhelms demand at previous market clearing prices.

The comments mark a sharp reversal from his February prediction that bitcoin could hit $ 600,000 per coin. He reached this number by comparing bitcoin to the supply of gold and its total value.

Minerd’s Guggenheim Partners, which has $ 270 billion in assets under management, filed for the right for its $ 5.3 billion Macro Opportunities Fund in November hold up to 10% of its net asset value in Grayscale Bitcoin Trust, an investment product in digital currency.

The total cryptocurrency market cap reached over $ 2.5 trillion earlier this month, an increase of more than 16 times from the March 2020 pandemic low of $ 148 billion, according to CoinMarketCap.com.

But bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies have seen their prices drop sharply from all-time highs.

Bitcoin, the largest cryptocurrency by market cap at $ 779 billion, fell 28% on Wednesday to $ 30,681 per coin, hitting its lowest level in nearly four months. Other cryptocurrencies, including ethereum and dogecoin, experienced even steeper declines before cutting their losses.

The Chinese Banking Association on Wednesday warned member banks of the risks associated with digital currencies and told them not to transact with digital tokens. The People’s Bank of China is expected to launch its own cryptocurrency, the digital yuan, at some point.

Cryptocurrencies were under pressure even before the Chinese government warning. Electric car maker Tesla said last week that it would no longer accept bitcoin as a payment method for its vehicles after announcing in March that it would accept digital currency.

“This is not the death of #crypto just as the collapse of Tulipmania was not the end of the tulip bulbs!” Minerd said.