Berkshire Hahaway’s Charlie Munger is stepping up his criticism of cryptocurrencies
Charlie Munger has never been shy about sharing his feelings about Bitcoin, but with last week’s spectacular FTX implosion, the Berkshire Hathaway Vice Chairman is amplifying his criticism in a big way.
In a speech on CNBC, Munger ripped cryptocurrencies, calling them “part fraud and part deception.”
“It’s a very, very bad thing. The country didn’t need a currency that’s good for kidnappers,” Munger said. “There are people who think they have to be on every hot deal. I think that’s totally crazy. They don’t care if it’s child prostitution or bitcoin.”
FTX has warned it could have over 1 million creditors in an updated bankruptcy filing, a stunning jump from the original estimate of over 100,000. Bitcoin prices have lost 74% of their value over the past year (and tokens are worth half what they were in May).
Munger said a combination of fraud and deception was to blame.
“Good ideas, taken to miserable excess, become bad ideas,” he said. “Nobody will say I have something I want to sell you. They say – it’s blockchain!”
While the criticism is heightened, it’s nothing new for Munger, who has long been a skeptic of digital currencies and says he doesn’t see any value or potential in them.
“In my life, I try to avoid things that are stupid and nasty and make me look bad… and bitcoin does all three,” he said in April. “First, it’s stupid because it’s probably still going 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 was smart enough to ban bitcoin in China.”
He has also compared it to “rat poison” and a “venereal disease”.
Sign up for the Fortune Features Email list so you don’t miss our biggest features, exclusive interviews and investigations.
