Warren Buffett’s right-hand man and the vice chairman of Berkshire Hathaway, Charlie Munger, says people who oppose banning cryptocurrencies are “idiots,” adding that it’s “just ridiculous” anybody would buy crypto. He also likened replacing national currencies to replacing air, stating that “It’s massively stupid.”
Berkshire Vice Chair Charlie Munger Says Replacing National Currencies Is Like Replacing Air
Berkshire Hathaway Vice Chairman Charlie Munger continued his insults against cryptocurrency and its supporters Wednesday during a live-streamed interview with CNBC at the Daily Journal’s annual shareholders meeting.
Referencing his recent opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal stating that cryptocurrency should be banned, the 99-year-old executive insisted there is no “rational” argument against his position of banning crypto. He opined:
I think the people that oppose my position are idiots … It’s just ridiculous that anybody would buy this stuff.
“You can think of hardly nothing on Earth that’s done more good to the human race than currency — national currencies. They were absolutely required to turn man from a goddamn successful ape into modern successful humans and human civilization, because they enabled all these convenient exchanges,” Munger described, elaborating:
So if anybody says I’m going to create something that sort of replaces the national currency, it’s like saying I’m going to replace the national air … it’s massively stupid.
“And of course, it’s very dangerous, and of course, the governments were totally wrong to permit it, and of course, I’m not proud of my country for allowing this crap,” he stressed. “It’s worthless, it’s no good, it’s crazy, it’ll do nothing but harm, it’s antisocial to allow it.”
The Berkshire executive continued: “The guy who made the correct 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 isn’t any crypto in China. He’s right and we’re wrong.”
While he believes that one should be able to state the arguments both for and against a particular subject, the Berkshire vice chair said crypto is an exception. “When you’re dealing with something as awful as crypto s*** … There’s only one correct answer for intelligent people — just totally avoid it and avoid all the people that are promoting it.” He emphasized:
It’s just unspeakable, it’s an absolute horror, and I’m ashamed of my country that so many people believe in this kind of crap, and the government allows it to exist.
“It’s totally, absolutely, crazy, stupid gambling with enormous house odds for the people on the other side, and they cheat … It’s just crazy,” he concluded.
Munger has slammed cryptocurrency many times in the past. He previously called BTC “rat poison” and likened crypto trading to “trading turds.”
The Berkshire executive said in 2021 that he wished crypto had never been invented and praised China for banning cryptocurrencies. He also called bitcoin “disgusting and contrary to the interest of civilization.” In February last year, he urged the government to ban bitcoin and called crypto “venereal disease.” In July, he advised everybody to avoid crypto as if it were an “open sewer, full of malicious organisms.”
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