“Bitcoin is a gambling token and it has no intrinsic value” – Warren Buffett
Warren Buffett resumed his familiar role as conductor of the R&D train in yet another anti-cryptocurrency interview with CNBC’s Squawk Box on April 12.
“We’ve had an explosion of gambling,” the magnate told CNBC to describe the cryptocurrency market. He added: “I like to bet on a football match if I sit and watch, it makes it more interesting. But I don’t think I want to make a living trying to bet against the house.”
This represents something of a softening of Buffett’s historical stance on Bitcoin (BTC) and cryptocurrency. Over the years, he has made a habit of talking down crypto with some of his most controversial quotes from past CNBC interviews.
In a 2014 Squawk Box interview, he told Quicken Loans founder Dan Gilbert that Bitcoin was “a mirage” and claimed that “the idea that it has a huge intrinsic value is just a joke.”
Buffett ventured speculation about Bitcoin’s longevity in another 2014 CNBC interview, stating that he “wouldn’t be surprised if Bitcoin doesn’t exist in 10 or 20 years.” At the time, he also said that Bitcoin could not be considered a currency because it is “inevitably based on the value of the dollar.”
Related: Buffett hits back at Bitcoin, claims it ‘produces nothing’
What is perhaps Buffett’s most famous quote about cryptocurrency came in a January 2018 interview when he doubled down on fellow Berkshire Hathaway vice chairman Charlie Munger’s earlier claim that Bitcoin was “rat poison” by saying it was “probably rat poison squared.” ”
That brings us to his latest CNBC interview where Buffett’s tone seems to have changed somewhat.
When asked when Bitcoin will be “revealed as not just rat poison squared […] But when it will be revealed as nothing,” Buffett shrugged off the question and instead compared the cryptocurrency to gambling:
“It is to predict when the speculation will end or when the gambling instinct will disappear.”
The billionaire then changed his response to a short riff on snail mail chain letters: “I didn’t like chain letters when I was a kid. I thought why on earth would I send a chain letter … when I could start my own.”
Buffett eventually returned to his gambling analogy, arguing that Bitcoin users were essentially gambling with their income: “You had millions of people who got checks and the money and were sitting at home and found out they could have a roulette wheel in their house. “
The billionaire’s track record in business may be long and storied, but Buffett’s own Berkshire Hathaway investment group has not been immune to losses linked to the recent banking crisis.
As Cointelegraph’s Marcel Pechman wrote in March, “Bitcoin’s price was up 31.5% in the six months to March 17, while Berkshire’s stock was up 5.8%. So for now, the so-called ‘rat poison’ … is outperforming its own financial management firm.”
