Warren Buffett’s right-hand man and Berkshire Hathaway vice chairman Charlie Munger says people who oppose the banning of crypto-currencies are “idiots“, adding that he is “simply ridiculous” that anyone would buy crypto-currencies. He also compared the replacement of national currencies to the replacement of air, stating that “it’s massively stupid.“
Charlie Munger, vice president of Berkshire, says replacing national currencies is like replacing air.
Berkshire Hathaway Vice Chairman Charlie Munger continued his insults against crypto-currencies and their supporters Wednesday during an interview broadcast live on CNBC at the Daily Journal’s annual shareholder meeting.
Referring to his recent opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal arguing that crypto-currencies should be banned, the 99-year-old executive insisted that “[t]here is no argument “rational” against his position to ban crypto-currencies. He stated:
I think the people who oppose my position are idiots…It’s just ridiculous that anyone would buy this stuff.
“You can think of almost nothing on earth that has done more good for the human race than money – national currencies. They were absolutely necessary to take man from a bloody prosperous ape to modern prosperous man and human civilization, because they made all these practical exchanges possible,” described Charlie Munger, elaborating:
So if someone says I’m going to create something that somehow replaces the national currency, that’s like saying I’m going to replace the national air…that’s massively stupid.
“And of course it’s very dangerous, and of course the governments were totally wrong to allow it, and of course I’m not proud of my country for allowing this crap“, he stressed. “It’s worthless, it’s useless, it’s crazy, it will only do harm, it’s anti-social to allow it“.
The Berkshire executive continued: “The guy who made the right decision on this is the Chinese leader. The Chinese leader took one look at crypto, and he says ‘not in my China’, and boom…there is no crypto in China. He is right and we are wrong.“
While he believes that the public should be able to state the arguments for and against a particular topic, the Berkshire vice president said that crypto is an exception. “When you are dealing with something as horrible as crypto s***… There is only one correct answer for smart people – just avoid it altogether and avoid everyone who promotes it.“He insists:
It’s just unspeakable, it’s an absolute horror, and I’m ashamed of my country that so many people believe this kind of crap, and that the government allows it to exist.
“It’s a totally, absolutely, crazy, stupid money game, with huge odds for the people on the other side, and they cheat… It’s just crazy“, he concluded.
Charlie Munger has criticized crypto-currencies several times in the past. He previously called BTC and compared crypto-currency trading to “trading in turds“.
The Berkshire executive said in 2021 that he wished crypto had never been invented and praised China for banning crypto-currencies. He also called bitcoin “disgusting and contrary to the interest of civilization.“Last February, he urged the government to ban bitcoin and called crypto “venereal disease“. In July, he advised everyone to avoid crypto as if it were a “open sewer, filled with malicious organisms.“