Warren Buffett says he wouldn't pay $25 for all the bitcoin in the world — and Charlie Munger blasts the crypto as 'stupid' and 'evil'
Buffett reiterated that bitcoin isn't worth anything because it doesn't produce anything, while Munger said he expects its price to plunge to zero.
REUTERS/Rick Wilking
- Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger slammed bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.
- Buffett said he wouldn't pay $25 for the world's entire supply of bitcoin
- Munger blasted bitcoin as "stupid," "evil," and something that makes its owners look bad.
Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger opened fire at bitcoin and the broader cryptocurrency industry during Berkshire Hathaway's annual shareholder meeting on Saturday.
"If you told me you owned all the bitcoin in the world and you offered it to me for $25, I wouldn't take it," Buffett said. "What would I do with it?"
In contrast, Buffett said he would buy a portion of the country's farmland, or some of the nation's apartments. He reiterated his view that bitcoin isn't worth anything because it doesn't produce anything, and holders rely on somebody else being willing to pay more for it than they did.
"It's got a magic to it, but people have attached magic to lots of things," Buffett added, comparing bitcoin to an insurance company pitching itself as a technological marvel.
Munger, Buffett's longtime business partner, spoke even more harshly about the most valuable cryptocurrency.
"In my life, I try and avoid things that are stupid, evil, and make me look bad in comparison to someone else," Munger said. "Bitcoin does all three."
The billionaire investor explained that holding bitcoin is "stupid" because he expects it to be worth zero dollars in time, "evil" because it undermines the integrity and stability of the US financial system, and makes the US "look foolish" because China's ruling party was smart enough to ban it.
Buffett has previously dismissed bitcoin as "rat poison squared," and described it as a worthless delusion. Meanwhile, Munger has compared the crypto to a venereal disease, called for the US to ban it, and bemoaned the massive speculation underlying its price gains in recent years.