Charlie Munger Says US Should Ban Crypto
Charlie Munger really doesn’t like crypto. In fact, he’s been speaking out about it publicly for some time. He says he wishes it had never been invented. He says Bitcoin is “stupid and evil” and useful for “hijackers and extortionists”. He compares crypto to “rat poison” and a “venereal disease”. And he says it’s “almost insane to buy or trade this stuff.”
As such, it’s not exactly a surprise that Munger, who has a net worth of $2.3 billion and is known for being Omaha Warren Buffett’s Oracle right-hand man, has decided to maintain his status as a top crypto -Retain skeptics. And he has some additional thoughts to share.
“I’m not proud of my country for allowing this crap – well I call it crypto shit. It’s worthless, it’s no use, it’s insane, it will do nothing but harm, it’s antisocial to allow it,” Munger said during a live-streamed interview with CNBC at an event for the Daily Journal. He is further ashamed that so many people “believe in this kind of crap and the government allows it to exist”.
In the past, Munger has gone so far as to say that the US should take a cue from China when it comes to regulation — that country banned cryptocurrency in 2021.
“What should the US do after a cryptocurrency ban is in place?” he recently wrote Wall Street Journal op ed. “Well, one more action might be worthwhile: thank the Chinese communist leader for his great example of unusual common sense.”
When asked about that recent comment, Munger told CNBC, “I think the people who oppose my position are idiots.”
“I don’t think there is any rational argument against my position,” he added.
Aside from Munger’s longstanding dislike of crypto, the industry itself has had a terrible year. Back-to-back crashes, including stablecoin TerraUSD and the FTX exchange, have reeled it, and at one point the sector was down $2 trillion in value. One of the most prominent US crypto founders, Sam Bankman-Fried of FTX, is currently awaiting trial on fraud allegations.
Regulators are also becoming more aggressive in cracking down on crypto firms following these debacles. This week, the New York Treasury Department blocked crypto firm Paxos from issuing a coin for Binance. And at a congressional hearing on Tuesday, Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) said the fallout from crypto outages is still ongoing.
“The nightmare isn’t over yet,” he said. “The recent crypto meltdowns have made it clear that we need a comprehensive framework to regulate crypto products to protect consumers and our financial system.”
Learn how to navigate and build trust in your organization with The Trust Factor, a weekly newsletter exploring what leaders need to succeed. Login here.
