Is Bill Gates Invested in Bitcoin?

As cryptocurrencies become more widely adopted around the world and blockchain is touted as one of the most important technological achievements of the 21st century, many are wondering whether Bill Gates, the co-founder of American technology behemoth Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT ), has already jumped on the crypto train.

Oddly enough, despite being one of the most famous ambassadors for technological progress, Gates remains very skeptical – if not outright disapproving – of the crypto industry, primarily concerned about volatility and the use of crypto in illegal activities.

As it happens, the legendary Microsoft founder has publicly discussed Bitcoin (BTC) and cryptocurrencies over time, but he has never revealed whether he had any. It seems the chances are slim because his comments related to crypto made on one TechCrunch conference in June 2022 reveals that he is still on the fence.

“Greater Fool Theory”

According to a CNN Report at the time, Gates was quoted as saying that cryptos and non-fungible tokens (NFTs) were “100% based on greater idiot theory”, referring to profiting from worthless or overvalued assets as long as people are willing to to bid them higher, adding that he was not “long or short” on crypto.

As he explained:

“I’m used to asset classes, like a farm where they have production, or like a company where they make products.”

Previously, in 2021, Gates so in an interview with CNBC that he was “neutral” on Bitcoin, stating that he did not own any and criticizing its volatility, although he acknowledged the crypto’s goal of making money more digital and bringing transactions down, which was “something the Gates Foundation is doing in developing countries.”

“Better than currency”?

Interestingly, however, in October 2014, Gates praised Bitcoin as “better than currency” in a BloombergTV interview on the sidelines of the ‘Sibos 2014’ financial services industry conference in Boston.

“Bitcoin is exciting because it shows how cheap it can be. (…) Bitcoin is better than currency in that you don’t need to be physically in the same place, and of course, for large transactions, currency can become quite inconvenient.”

Addressing the participants of the conference, the Microsoft founder reiterated his opinion on crypto and emphasized that financial transactions in the future would be “digital, universal and almost free.” However, he also criticized the anonymity of virtual assets such as Bitcoin.

Also, during a Reddit Ask Me Anything (AMA) session in February 2014, he stated that his organization was “involved in digital money, but unlike Bitcoin, it would not be anonymous digital money,” referring to Vodaphone M-pesa, a mobile phone-based money transfer and microfinance service in Kenya supported of his foundation.

All things considered, Bill Gates doesn’t seem to be a vocal fan of crypto, but hope remains as his views don’t appear to be as sharp as those of, say, Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK.A ) CEO Warren Buffett , who has labeled cryptocurrencies as “rat poison,” and his vice chairman Charlie Munger who referred to them as a “bad combination” of “part fraud and part delusion.”