Bitcoin is an ‘artificial substitute for gold’ acc. Berkshire Hathaway’s Charlie Munger
Vice-Chairman of Berkshire Hathaway and billionaire investor Charlie Munger remains unimpressed with Bitcoin’s recent rally past $50,000.
In a recent interview with the Daily Journal, Munger said he couldn’t decide what was worse – Tesla potentially reaching a $1 trillion fully diluted enterprise value or Bitcoin hitting $50,000. He said,
“I can’t decide the order of precedence between a flea and a louse, and I feel the same way about those choices. I don’t know which is worse.”
Like many other investors, Munger doesn’t think that Bitcoin will end up being the medium of exchange for the world.
“It’s really kind of an artificial substitute for gold. And since I never buy any gold, I never buy any bitcoin.”, said the investor, recommending that others follow his practice.
Munger went on to compare the craze behind the world’s largest digital asset to an Oscar Wilde metaphor about fox hunting. According to him, it is “the pursuit of the uneatable by the unspeakable.”
Many in the community took to Twitter to state that Munger “didn’t get it” and not understanding the underlying technology was the reason behind his negative perception of the asset.
Twitter has been an active community for those in the crypto space to discuss and share their perspectives about the market and this is something that concerns Sebastian Siemiatkowski, CEO of Swedish banking corporation Klarna.
Siemiatkowski noted that the underlying technology behind Bitcoin is interesting but fears that retail investors will be drawn in by tweets urging people to buy the cryptocurrency without thinking about the risks involved.
“If I go on Twitter and search for bitcoin, I can see people writing: ‘Buy now or you’re going to miss the biggest opportunity of your life,’” Siemiatkowski told CNBC in an interview.
“If I would take Klarna stock and advertise it with similar writing I would get a fine or I would even be put to jail,” he added. “I am very surprised why regulators aren’t chasing these elements.”