Can magic mushrooms really help you understand bitcoin?

That’s what one German billionaire says. But it’s not why the Aztecs and the hippies were such fans

Finally! Whoa … Says who? Christian Angermayer: “It was the single most meaningful thing I’ve ever done in my whole life,” he said, about his first psychedelic trip in 2015 in the Caribbean (where it’s legal). He said it provided the insight required to get his head round the cryptocurrency.

Who is Angermayer? A new-age space cadet? Actually, a 43-year-old German billionaire investor. He has an unconventional portfolio that includes space travel, as it happens, as well as crypto, special purpose acquisitions companies, films, cancer drugs, Covid drugs …

And psychedelics? According to an interview on Bloomberg, the financial website, a psychedelics-focused biotech company he founded was valued recently at $2bn.

Is he in it just for the money? He says he wants to make the world a happier place. To that end he has turned to psilocybin, the active ingredient in magic mushrooms. His company, Compass Pathways, is looking into ways it can be used to treat depression and its share price has doubled since its September listing.

The Guardian