Warren Buffett calls Bitcoin a ‘gambling token’
Warren Buffett understands the temptation of Bitcoin, but still doesn’t like it. Daniel Zuchnik—WireImage
Warren Buffett doesn’t see much value in Bitcoin, despite its recent price rise. However, the Berkshire Hathaway boss sympathizes with people hoping to get rich quick from it. “Something like Bitcoin, it’s a gambling token and it has no intrinsic value. But that doesn’t stop people from wanting to play the roulette wheel,” Buffett said during an appearance on CNBC’s Squawk Box on Wednesday.
Bitcoin was trading at more than $30,000 on Thursday, after starting the year below $17,000. But that’s still significantly down from its peak of nearly $69,000 in November 2021.
In mid-February, Mike Novogratz, CEO of crypto investment firm Galaxy Digital, noted the “FOMO build-up” around Bitcoin, citing the “fear of missing out.” At the time, Bitcoin was trading at just under $24,800, and Novogratz said he “wouldn’t be surprised” if it reached $30,000 by the end of March.
While Buffett did not mention FOMO, he said Wednesday: “The urge to participate in something that looks like easy money is a human instinct that has been unleashed. People love the get-rich-quick idea, and I don’t blame them…It’s so human, and once it’s unleashed, you can’t put it back in the bottle.”
Buffett and Berkshire’s Vice Chairman Charlie Munger have a long track record of beating Bitcoin.
In 2018, Buffett said that Bitcoin is “probably rat poison squared” at the 2018 Berkshire Hathaway shareholder meeting. He added on CNBC at the time, “When you buy non-performing assets, all you’re counting on is that the next person is going to pay you more because they’re even more excited about another next person coming along.”
When he made these comments, Bitcoin was trading slightly below $10,000, well below the heights it would reach in the coming years. But Buffett and Munger have been consistent in their criticism of the digital token.
Munger, Buffett’s longtime right-hand man, has been particularly harsh. Last April, he said of Bitcoin, “It’s stupid because it’s still likely to go to zero,” and “it’s evil because it undermines the Federal Reserve System.” He also praised China for banning Bitcoin.
And earlier this year, Munger called for the US to ban cryptocurrencies altogether, saying in another interview that he was “not proud of my country” to allow them to thrive.
But Bitcoin bulls continue to predict massive increases in the coin’s value. In February, ARK Invest CEO Cathie Wood, who is heavily invested in crypto, predicted that Bitcoin will reach $1.48 million by 2030, up from her previous forecast of $1 million.
On the other hand, Mark Mobius, the billionaire founder of Mobius Capital Partners, predicted in December that Bitcoin would fall to $10,000 at some point this year.
