Bitcoin Critic Warren Buffett Hits Crypto Again, Calling It a ‘Gambling Token’
Warren Buffett has issued a warning that there has been a gambling boom in the financial markets. He has also taken a swipe at bitcoin, stating that the cryptocurrency has no intrinsic value.
Although Bitcoin’s (BTC) price has increased by more than 80% since the beginning of the year, the most popular cryptocurrency asset still has its critics.
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Is Bitcoin a “gambling” coin?
In an interview Wednesday with CNBC, one of the most successful investors in the world known as the “Oracle of Omaha” took the opportunity to take another shot at Bitcoin, this time calling it a “gambling token.”
“#Bitcoin is a gambling token and has no intrinsic value. But that doesn’t stop people from wanting to play the roulette wheel,” Warren Buffett continues #crypto. pic.twitter.com/6MQAiyrS5J
— Squawk Box (@SquawkCNBC) 12 April 2023
Buffett made the following observation in reference to gambling in general:
“The urge to participate in what looks like easy money is a human instinct that was always there.”
The big boss of Berkshire Hathaway has previously referred to the popular crypto as “rat poison squared” and declared that it is a “mirage” that attracts charlatans. In addition, he has warned investors to stay away from the cryptocurrency, describing it as a “delusion”.
The criticism of Bitcoin that comes from the business tycoon’s notion that investments should have some sort of intrinsic value is where the criticism comes from.
The anti-crypto billionaire sees these types of digital assets as speculative that are vulnerable to dramatic price swings and have no fundamental value.
Buffett, not a fan of Bitcoin
Recent weeks have seen significant gains across the board for crypto markets. According to Messari, Bitcoin and Ethereum are up 61% and 35%, respectively, although they are still about 56% and 36% behind their all-time highs, which were reached in November 2021.
On Tuesday, the price of BTC crossed $30,000 for the first time. The last time it happened was back in June. Two days later it was still about $29,900 at that point.
It is common knowledge that Buffett is not a fan of bitcoin; in fact, he has previously stated that even if someone offered him $25 for all the bitcoin (BTC) in the world, he wouldn’t buy it.
His senior vice president and Berkshire Hathaway vice chairman Charlie Munger has been even more vocal over the years about his distaste for the alpha coin. Earlier this year, he called on the US government to ban cryptocurrency in a similar fashion to China.
According to Buffett, the human propensity to gamble is one of the factors driving investments in cryptocurrencies. He stated that committing funds to the asset class will “eat up” one’s financial resources.
Bitcoin (BTC) total market cap currently at $582 billion on the daily chart at TradingView.com
Bitcoin up almost 8% in the last week
A number of influential people have expressed their reservations about bitcoin. Jamie Dimon, CEO of JPMorgan Chase, gave an interview to CNBC in January, in which he referred to bitcoin as a “hyped-up scam” and compared it to a “pet rock.”
Berkshire Hathaway is now ranked as having the world’s eighth largest market capitalization in terms of assets, as reported by the latest information from companiesmarketcap.com.
According to the same source, the market capitalization of Bitcoin is currently the 10th largest in the world.
At the time of writing, BTC is trading at $30,104, up 7.7% in the past seven days, data from crypto market tracker CoinMarketCap shows.
– Featured image from PAUL MORIGI/GETTY IMAGES/FORTUNE/TIME INC.
