Berkshire Hathaway Vice Chairman Charlie Munger was not mincing his words when he stated that crypto is "partly fraud" and "partly delusion" and that authorities should not have allowed it to be a thing in the first place.
Berkshire's Charlie Munger Hates Bitcoin
The billionaire investor, also known for his "elementary, worldly wisdom" business philosophy, has made some strong but cogent remarks about the current complications of the cryptocurrency industry. The 98-year-old businessman also mentioned how digital coin peddlers are messing up the already complicated crypto space.
Warren Buffett's right-hand man has been for some time one of the biggest crypto doubters, and he had some good commentary on the industry in an interview with CNBC last Tuesday, Nov. 15, only a few days after the FTX platform's crash.
"We don't need a new, wonderful, non-traceable medium that makes it easier to commit frauds of various kinds," Munger said, even calling bitcoin a currency for kidnappers. "What is bitcoin doing for anybody?" he adds.
This strong statement from Munger contains a significant amount of truth, as data from EMSISOFT indicates that in 2019, Bitcoin accounted for approximately 98% of ransomware payments.
The main reason for this is that Bitcoin is very easy to obtain; a quick purchase can be secured with a simple card or bank transaction, making it a very viable form of ransom payment in addition to being very simple to verify. Using mixer and tumbler services, cybercriminals can launder their stolen money while maintaining their anonymity.
Part Fraud, Part Delusion
Munger also made some comments about "once reputable" regulatory bodies that helped promote the use of crypto platforms. He even said that the country is in no need of such currencies from "fraudsters and crazy people."
When asked if he thinks crypto-runners have good intentions, he had this really interesting retort: "You're seeing a lot of delusion." It's partly fraud and partly delusion. "That's a bad combination."
"Nobody's going to be in this new thing where every 12-year-old kid can be a billionaire or something," he described, adding that he can just create a coin, call it a Munger coin, and start trading it. "It's crazy; it's demented," he said.
Bitcoin.com reports that the businessman had previously called bitcoin "rat poison" and "contrary to the interests of civilization." He even compared bitcoin to a venereal disease.
Bitcoin has been called "digital gold" for some time, but the veteran businessman has a different opinion. "Gold has been around for 2,000 years. If you were a Jewish guy living in Vienna in 1939, gold would be very useful. "I don't equate bitcoin with gold," Insider quotes Munger.
The Berkshire Hathaway executive believes that governments should ban bitcoin.
However, there is one cryptocurrency supporter he did not flame in his comments: Elon Musk. Munger expressed surprise at Tesla's extraordinary success and voiced far more positive feelings about Elon Musk's company than he does about bitcoin.
Musk is a well-known Dogecoin petter.
