Bill Gates Says He Would 'Short Bitcoin' If He Could
(Kitco News) - The popular cryptocurrency bitcoin is just a “greater fool theory” that doesn’t produce anything and “if there was an easy way to do it,” Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates says he would short bitcoin.
Gates revealed his thoughts about the digital currency to CNBC on Monday, saying that bitcoin is purely speculative.
“I would short [bitcoin] if there was an easy way to do it,” he said. “As an asset class, you're not producing anything and so you shouldn't expect it to go up. It's kind of a pure 'greater fool theory' type of investment.”
Gates admitted that he was once given bitcoin as a birthday present, but chose not to keep it as an investment, selling the cryptocurrency a few years after that.
Microsoft co-founder’s comments were made on the sidelines of the Berkshire Hathaway’s annual shareholders meeting in Omaha, Nebraska, where billionaire investor Warren Buffett and Berkshire Hathaway vice chairman Charlie Munger criticized bitcoin, calling it “worthless, artificial gold.”
VIDEO: "I don't connect #bitcoin and #gold at all; they are serving two different purposes" - @McEwenMining CEO | @DanielaCambone... pic.twitter.com/EYO74o80bW
— Kitco NEWS (@KitcoNewsNOW) November 28, 2017Munger told CNBC on Monday that trading bitcoin is “just dementia.”
“Bitcoin reminds me of Oscar Wilde's definition of fox hunting: ‘The pursuit of the uneatable by the unspeakable’,” he said.
Bitcoin has been on a wild ride this past year, rising to almost $20,000 in December and then losing half of its value in just a few months. Bitcoin was last trading at $9,423.90, up 0.58% on the day, according to Kitco’s aggregated charts.
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