Berkshire Hathaway CEO Warren Buffett says he won’t buy all the bitcoin in the world for $25. Meanwhile, his longtime business partner and right-hand man, Charlie Munger, says bitcoin is stupid and evil, noting that the cryptocurrency makes him look bad.
Warren Buffett Explains Why He Won’t Buy Bitcoin
Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger talked about bitcoin during Berkshire Hathaway’s annual shareholders meeting Saturday. Buffett is Berkshire’s CEO and chairman of the board. Munger, often known as his right-hand man, is the company’s vice chairman of the board.
The Oracle of Omaha, famous for saying bitcoin is “probably rat poison squared,” explained in some detail why he would not buy BTC. He said:
Whether it goes up or down in the next year, or five or 10 years, I don’t know. But the one thing I’m pretty sure of is that it doesn’t produce anything … It’s got a magic to it and people have attached magics to lots of things.
Buffett gave some examples. He would pay $25 billion for a 1% interest in all the farmland in the United States. He would also pay $25 billion for a 1% interest in all the apartment houses in the country. “I would write you a check this afternoon,” he affirmed.
However, when it comes to buying bitcoin, he detailed:
Now if you told me you own all of the bitcoin in the world and you offered it to me for $25, I wouldn’t take it because what would I do with it? I’d have to sell it back to you one way or another. It isn’t going to do anything.
Unlike bitcoin, “The apartments are going to produce rent and the farms are going to produce food,” he stressed.
The Berkshire boss proceeded to discuss the U.S. dollar. “Assets, to have value, have to deliver something to somebody. And there’s only one currency that’s accepted. You can come up with all kinds of things — we can put up Berkshire coins … but in the end, this is money,” he added, holding up a $20 bill. “And there’s no reason in the world why the United States government … is going to let Berkshire money replace theirs.”
Buffett, however, invests in bitcoin-friendly digital bank Nubank, which offers BTC investments.