Bitcoin & other cryptocurrencies will ‘come to bad ending’ – Warren Buffett
Warren Buffett said he doesn’t own a single bitcoin and has no plans of investing in it, with the billionaire predicting a “bad ending” for cryptocurrencies.
“In terms of cryptocurrencies, generally, I can say with almost certainty that they will come to a bad ending," Buffett told CNBC's ‘Squawk Box’ program on Wednesday. “When it happens or how or anything else, I don't know."
According to the chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, he will not take a short position on bitcoin futures. "We don't own any, we're not short any, we'll never have a position in them," he said.
"I get into enough trouble with things I think I know something about. Why in the world should I take a long or short position in something I don't know anything about," the billionaire investor explained.
Buffett's stance was fully backed by his right-hand man, billionaire Charlie Munger, who also appeared on the program and called bitcoin and its fellow cryptocurrencies “bubbles.” Investors “are excited because things are going up at the moment and it sounds vaguely modern... But I'm not excited,” he said.
Buffett has joined a chorus of other prominent investors who have publically doubted the bright future of cryptocurrencies. BlackRock CEO Larry Fink said: "Bitcoin just shows you how much demand for money laundering there is in the world." JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon saaid: "It (bitcoin) is just not a real thing, eventually it will be closed." Shortly before being arrested in the Saudi anti-corruption crackdown in October, Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, nicknamed the ‘Arabian Warren Buffet,’ also warned that bitcoin was “going to implode” like Enron.
The bitcoin price stopped at $13,907 on Wednesday after dropping 3.69 percent, according to website CoinDesk. The digital currency has gone up 1,500 percent over the last 12 months, reaching a record price of over $17,500 in mid-December.
