Berkshire’s Charlie Munger praises China for banning ‘worthless’ Bitcoin
Berkshire Hathaway Vice Chairman Charlie Munger – seen by many as Warren Buffett’s right-hand man – praised China on Wednesday for banning cryptocurrencies, saying he was ashamed the US had not.
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“It’s worthless, it’s not good, it’s crazy. It will do nothing but harm. It’s antisocial to allow that,” Munger said Wednesday, speaking about what he called “crypto crappo” at the annual shareholder meeting of Daily Journal Corporation (ticker: DJCO ).
In addition to being vice chairman of Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A and BRK.B), famed stock picker Munger is the former chairman of the Daily Journal and continues to serve on the newspaper company’s board.
“I’m ashamed of my country that so many people believe this crap and the government allows it to exist,” Munger said. “The guy who made the right decision on this is the Chinese leader, [who] took a look at the crypto sh-t and said ‘not in my China’… he’s right and we’re wrong.” China, under President Xi Jinping, banned cryptocurrency transactions at the end of 2021.
A long-time crypto skeptic, Munger has spoken out repeatedly over the years about the dangers of investing in high-risk digital assets like Bitcoin, which have no fundamental value behind them. At times, he has looked wrong, or at least on the wrong side of the market – for example, in the middle of Bitcoin’s 2020 and 2021 bull run, which saw the asset rise to a November 2021 high near $69,000 from below $10,000.
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But, like many efforts made by 99-year-old Munger, he has proved himself right in time. Bitcoin changed hands on Thursday at less than a quarter of its late-2021 peak, with the total market capitalization of cryptocurrencies down to $1.1 trillion from nearly $3 trillion in the same period.
Cascading prices have also ushered in a wave of business failures and bankruptcies across the digital asset landscape, including some – such as crypto exchange FTX and lender Celsius – amid allegations of fraud.
While Munger said he is “ashamed” that the US has not banned Bitcoin, his hopes for a crackdown soon may be at least partially satisfied. Regulatory storm clouds have been gathering around crypto for months, and the Securities and Exchange Commission has struck a distinctly more aggressive tone in recent weeks.
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Write to Jack Denton at [email protected]
