Charlie Munger has never been shy about sharing his feelings about Bitcoin, but with a spectacular track record the boom of FTX in the past week, vice president of Berkshire Hathaway is intensifying his criticism in a big way.
Speaking on CNBCMunger has ripped off cryptocurrencies, calling them “part scam and part delusion.”
“This is a very, very bad thing. The country doesn’t need a good currency for kidnappers,” Munger said. “There are people who think they have to get in on all the good deals. I think that’s completely crazy. They don’t care if it’s child prostitution or bitcoin.”
FTX has warned that it could have more than 1 million creditors on its updated bankruptcy filing, a dramatic jump from its initial estimate of more than 100,000. Meanwhile, the bitcoin price has lost 74% of its value in the past year (and the tokens are only half what they were in May).
Munger says a combination of fraud and delusion is to blame.
“Good ideas, carried away so miserable, will turn into bad ideas,” he said. “No one is going to say I have some stuff that I want to sell you. They say – it’s blockchain!”
The criticism, though mounting, is nothing new for Munger, who has long been skeptical of digital currencies, saying he sees no value or potential in them.
“In my life, I try to avoid things that are stupid, ugly and make me look bad… and bitcoin does all three.” he said in april. “In the first place, it was stupid because it still has the potential to return to zero. It’s evil because it undermines the Federal Reserve System…and third, it makes us look stupid compared to the Communist leader in China. He is smart enough to ban bitcoin in China.”
He also likened it to “rat poison” and “venereal disease.”
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