From rat poison to Beanie Babies, these celebrities got bitcoin wrong

Many famous people got Bitcoin completely wrong. Thousands dismissed it as a scam or pyramid scheme, while others predicted hackers or the government would shut it down. Skeptics like Elon Musk even criticized its environmental impact while advance obvious scam (remember CumRocket?).

So below we have compiled a short list of some of the famous people who have been completely wrong about bitcoin since the project started 13 years ago.

Behold, Bitcoin’s celebrity wall of shame.

Elon Musk

Best known as the CEO of SpaceX, Tesla and The Boring Company, Elon Musk often misunderstands bitcoin.

Musk often criticized the energy useonce saying“Bitcoin hashing (also known as mining) energy use is starting to exceed that of medium-sized countries. Almost impossible for small hashers to succeed without the huge economies of scale.”

Ironically, Musk’s company Tesla briefly accepted bitcoin payments for its electric vehicles. However, Elon Musk removed that option, claiming that he had somehow failed to understand the impact of bitcoin mining on the environment while seizing the opportunity to promote his pet project, Dogecoin, instead.

Telsa briefly owned one bitcoin worth billions of dollarsbut the company’s Q2 2022 earnings report revealed that Musk has sold three-quarters of his bitcoin.

Musk ignored the amount of renewable energy Bitcoin mining uses. Coinshares released a report showing that 74% of Bitcoin’s energy came from renewable sources in 2019. The Bitcoin Mining Council said that more than half of the energy used for Bitcoin mining came from renewable sources in the second half of 2021. Coindesk writer Nic Carter suggested. that mining can stimulate the development of renewable energy sources that have struggled with the power grid during the harsh winter months in early 2021.

Warren Buffett

The renowned investor Warren Buffett repeatedly went hard on bitcoincalls it “rat poison” and says that “it has no unique value at all.”

Buffett’s protégé and Berkshire Hathaway vice chairman Charlie Munger also criticized the leading crypto in April 2022, saying it is “stupid, evil and makes me look bad.”

But even billionaires like Buffet drop the ball sometimes. Buffett’s mantra, “Never invest in a business you cannot understand,” he believed was decades too late for the internet industry. This is a blunder he has readily owned up to, especially his decision not to invest in Google.

Maybe he simply doesn’t understand bitcoin any more than he understood the early Internet. After all, it has doubled in value since his rat poison line.

Senator Elizabeth Warren

Senator Warren criticized bitcoin’s energy use, claiming: “A single bitcoin transaction uses more energy than a typical American household in a month. I think the estimate is 53 days.”

Firing back, Blocktower Capital CIO Ari Paul black“Social media uses more electricity than bitcoin. You can do more for climate change by not tweeting.”

Galaxy Digital Mining released one detailed report from May 2021:

• “Always-on” household appliances use 1375 TWh annually
• The banking system consumes 238.92 TWh annually
• Bitcoin uses 113.89 TWh annually

Galaxy Digital Mining’s report made the point that context is important when discussing bitcoin’s energy use. Many other industries and applications use more electricity than bitcoin, including Christmas lights.

Read more: Bitcoin miners forced to dump stakes to stay afloat amid market crash

Brad Sherman

California Representative Sherman has repeatedly criticized bitcoin, calling it a tool of “anarchists rooting for tax evasion” and a threat to America.

In 2019, he called for a crypto ban by labeling digital currency a threat to US foreign policy and the rule of law.

But despite his desire to protect investors, bitcoin continued to double in price since Sherman called for its ban.

In February 2022, he said so digital assets harm people of colorwhich made little sense to digital asset insiders, considering that one of bitcoin’s selling points is that anyone can download a wallet for free and validate the entire blockchain on a desktop home PC.

In turn, Sherman was criticized for taking campaign donations from major banks and mainstream financial institutions. Donors included the American Banking Association, Capital One and Charles Schwab.

Janet Yellen

US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen falsely claimed that bitcoin is mostly used for illegal financing.

“I think many are used, at least in a transactional sense, mainly for illicit financing, and I think we really need to look at how we can limit their use and make sure that anti-money laundering [sic] doesn’t happen through those channels,” she told a congressional committee as she went through the confirmation process as Treasury Secretary.

While bitcoin has been used in a small number of ransomware attacks and scams, Kraken’s Dan Held clarified that Yellen was wrong about bitcoin being synonymous with illegal activity, revealing that crime accounted for less than 0.3% of crypto-related activity in 2020.

Peter Schiff

Schiff has been making bearish predictions about bitcoin since it traded below $1,000. A typical permabear, he recently warned, “Don’t buy the dip,” as bitcoin tried to break out of its downtrend. He even claimed that some holders had to sell to cover basic expenses as inflation rises.

Bitcoin investors will probably always ignore Peter Schiff’s warnings, considering that he has been making gloomy predictions about bitcoin ever since traded over 95% cheaper than today’s price.

Jamie Dimon

JP Morgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon repeatedly hit out at bitcoin. He called bitcoin “worthless” in October 2021 just as the currency hit new records. He claimed that JP Morgan would not stop account holders from buying it, but would not hold the bitcoin itself.