Vice chairman of Berkshire Hathaway Charlie Munger had some rough things to say about bitcoin and its followers.
Someone Isn’t a Fan of Crypto
In a recent interview, Munger commented that everyone who used or traded bitcoin was “celebrating the life and work of Judas Iscariot,” the man who in the Bible, betrayed Jesus and offered him to the Romans. Munger and his boss Warren Buffett have not been big fans of bitcoin and crypto in the past. Recently, Buffett compared bitcoin to “rat poison” and said that it was “delusional,” holding no official value in the financial arena.
Munger has also referred to bitcoin as “worthless, artificial gold.” This time around, he’s commenting that:
I think the people who are professional traders that go into trading cryptocurrencies, it’s just disgusting. It’s like somebody else is trading turds and you decide, ‘I can’t be left out.’
This is a very harsh way of putting things, and an argument that opens the door for plenty of questions. First off, are Munger and Buffett potentially playing the same card as Jamie Dimon? The JPMorgan Chase CEO and Chairman has consistently been critical of bitcoin, calling it a “fraud” and saying that it’s “worse than tulip bulbs.”
Several months later, however, the CEO’s company came out with its own official cryptocurrency that it dubbed JPM Coin. Were the angry words somehow meant to distract people or fool them into thinking that the company would never go into cryptocurrency, so it could develop its plans and projects within the blockchain space without being bothered?
It almost sounds like a kid salivating over the last chocolate chip cookie. He or she acts like they don’t want it so that they can sneak in when nobody’s looking and eat it up. It’s the same scenario, and it’s a little immature at this point.
While there’s no evidence to suggest this is happening, this could very much be the case with Buffett and his company. It appears every major enterprise, to one extent or another, is considering entry to the blockchain arena and is looking into developing special coins that will allow customers to take advantages of said company’s tools, goods and services.
Will Buffett Change His Attitude in the Future?
In addition, Buffett is no stranger to changing his mind. The man has been critical of online retailer Amazon in the past, but recently stated that he regrets not purchasing Amazon stock when it was lower. With a net worth of over $88 billion, Buffett is now putting some of his cash into Amazon-based dividends.
Perhaps when the time is right, and the air has cleared a bit, Buffett will have a similar change of heart regarding bitcoin, and he won’t see it as a potential tool for evil like he does now.