'Stupid and evil'. Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger unload on Bitcoin

Buffett recommends investing in anything that develops yourself.

Bernd Struben

Author bio Bernd Struben earned his BA in economics from the University of Michigan in 1991, with post-graduate studies in environmental economics at the University of Connecticut. Over the years he’s written about and analysed the tourism industry in the Caribbean; Europe’s commercial real estate markets; and, since moving to Australia in 2010, global and Aussie share markets. Bernd studies geopolitical and macroeconomic trends, alongside sector and company specific data, to gauge what he believes could be tomorrow's best investments. In his free time, you might find Bernd at the beach with his family or working on his next science fiction novel. Areas of expertise Australian and global share markets Macroeconomic and geopolitical trends Real estate Education Economics, University of Michigan Favorite investment quote "The four most dangerous words in investing are: 'This time it's different." — Sir John Templeton

Published May 4, 2022 2:50 pm AEST

Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) represents different things to different people.

Launched way back in January 2009 by a person or people going under the name Satoshi Nakamoto, the world's first crypto is sometimes lauded as a financial equaliser. One whose decentralised nature takes control from established financial institutions and is free from government manipulation.

But not everyone agrees with this rosy take.

An angry customer yells at his mobile phone. — Image source: Getty Images

Just say no

Over the weekend legendary investor Warren Buffett and his long-time right-hand man Charlie Munger hosted Berkshire Hathaway's annual shareholder meeting.

With cryptos gaining mainstream traction across the globe, their opinions on Bitcoin came up.

As Bloomberg reports, Buffett said he's not sure what to do with the likes of Bitcoin and other cryptos. According to the Oracle of Omaha, crypto assets aren't productive like real estate or farmland.

Munger, well-known for his disdain of cryptos, said, "When you have your own retirement account and your friendly adviser suggests you put all your money into Bitcoin, just say no."

"In my life I try and avoid things that are stupid, and evil and make me look bad in comparison with somebody else. Bitcoin does all three," he added.

If not cryptos then what?

Buffett and Munger couldn't have been clearer on their dislike of Bitcoin.

But with resurgent inflation, rather than speculating on stocks like you're in a casino or investing in digital assets that you may not understand, Buffett recommended (quoted by Bloomberg):

The best investment by far is anything that develops yourself. If you're the one they pick out to do any particular activity – sing or play baseball or be their lawyer, whatever it may be – whatever abilities you have can't be taken away from you. They can't actually be inflated away from you.

How has Bitcoin been tracking?

Crypto investors would have done well to take Warren Buffett's advice this year.

So far in 2022, the Bitcoin price is down 20%, according to data from CoinMarketCap.

The world's leading crypto is currently down 45% from its 10 November all-time highs of US$68,790.

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