Bill Gates strongly believes that Bitcoin as well as other cryptocurrencies is nothing more than just a pure ‘greater fool theory’ type of investment. Billionaire and Microsoft founder Bill Gates is very skeptic about the cryptocurrency and says that he would like to bet against Bitcoin if he had such an opportunity. In his joint interview with legendary investor and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway Warren Buffett and the company’s vice chairman Charlie Munger for CNBC, he expressed his view on the nature of Bitcoin and its future. He told the journalists: “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”. “I agree I would short it if there was an easy way to do it,” added Gates. Gates as well as many other critics of the cryptocurrency are very negative about the extreme volatility of the cryptocurrency market. In 2017 the price of one Bitcoin skyrocketed from $2,000 to $19,000 by the end of the year. And this year, after a significant decline the price still hasn’t managed to reach the mark of $10,000. At the press time, according to CoinMarketCap, Bitcoin is traded at $9,393. Gates believes that Bitcoin and ICOs are “some of the crazier, speculative things” said Gates. When the billionaire was asked whether he currently owns any digital assets, he answered that once he got a Bitcoin as a birthday present. But now he doesn’t have it, as he sold it back some years ago. The Microsoft founder considers digital currencies to be too risky for long-term commitments for private investors as well as for institutional ones. Though virtual currencies are just nothing more than crazy investments, according to Gates, like other cryptocurrency skeptics he still believes that blockchain itself as a separate technology can be rather useful. Blockchain gives a possibility to exclude a participation of an external intermediary, such as a bank, for example, or any financial institution, from any transaction. It can be achieved thanks to quick creation of a permanent reliable and secure record of a transaction in which only two parties participate. Though blockchain was initially used only as an underlying technology for Bitcoin, currently companies are actively examining ways for implementation of blockchain in many other areas like trading, banking and supply chain management. Gates’ opinion is very close to the view of Warren Buffett who named Bitcoin a “zero-sum game”. Being an absolute anti-fan of investing into cryptocurrencies, he said that Bitcoin is “probably rat poison squared”. Nevertheless, some cryptocurrency experts strongly believe that “traditional investors forget Bitcoin is actually a technology infrastructure”. Though it is clear that Bitcoin differs from traditional investments and it acts differently, according to crypto supporters, it shouldn’t be considered as a disadvantage of Bitcoin as it is done by many gurus of traditional investors. Having obtained a diploma in Intercultural Communication, Julia continued her studies taking a Master’s degree in Economics and Management. Becoming captured by innovative technologies, Julia turned passionate about exploring emerging techs believing in their ability to transform all spheres of our life. You have successfully joined our subscriber list.
Microsoft founder Bill Gates has expressed scepticism about bitcoin, saying he would be prepared to short it if there were a simple way to do it. Gates pointed to the asset’s lack of intrinsic value, saying that as nothing is being produced, investors cannot expect the asset to continually go up in value. His scepticism does not extent to Bitcoin, which he sees as a potentially useful technology.