Charlie Munger Praises China for Banning Crypto
Charlie Munger made more controversial comments about cryptocurrencies at today's Sohn Hearts and Minds 2021 conference.
Key Takeaways
- Legendary investor Charlie Munger discussed cryptocurrencies at the Sohn Hearts & Minds 2021 Conference.
- He reiterated his hardened stance against crypto assets, saying he wishes “they’d never been invented.”
- He also praised China for banning cryptocurrencies and said he wouldn’t want people who use crypto to marry into his family.
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Charlie Munger, Vice Chairman of Berkshire Hathaway and long-term partner of Warren Buffet, has reiterated his hardened stance against cryptocurrencies.
Charlie Munger Wishes Cryptocurrencies Didn’t Exist
Charlie Munger has said he wishes cryptocurrencies didn’t exist and praised China for banning them.
Speaking at the Sohn Hearts & Minds 2021 Investment Leaders Conference Friday, the Berkshire Hathaway Vice Chairman shared his thoughts on the current state of the markets, investing, geopolitics, and cryptocurrencies.
On markets, Munger said that the current environment was “more extreme” than anything he’d ever seen. “The Dot Com boom was crazier on the valuations even than we have now but overall, I consider this era even crazier than the Dot Com era,” the Australian Financial Review reported.
Reiterating previous negative views he’s shared on cryptocurrencies, Munger also said he wished cryptocurrencies had “never been invented,” adding that he admired China for making “the correct decision, which was to simply ban them.”
The 97-year-old investor has long criticized cryptocurrencies for their permissionless nature and volatility. Speaking at the annual Berkshire Hathaway shareholder meeting in May this year, he said the asset class was “disgusting and contrary to the interests of civilization.” He then added:
“I don’t welcome a currency that’s so useful to kidnappers and extortionists and so forth, nor do I like just shuffling out of your extra billions of billions of dollars to somebody who just invented a new financial product out of thin air.”
During today’s conference, Munger doubled down on his contempt for the asset class and the industry, saying he prefers to make money by “selling people things that are good for them, not things that are bad for them,” which he supposedly thinks is contrary to the views of cryptocurrency investors. Adding to this point, he said:
“Believe me, the people who are getting in cryptocurrencies are not thinking about the customer, they’re thinking about themselves. Just look at them. I wouldn’t want any one of them to marry into my family.”
Buffet’s and Munger’s disdain for cryptocurrencies don’t come as a surprise to many. A significant share of Berkshire Hathaway’s holdings and Munger’s portfolio are big banks and payment providers like Bank of America, Wells Fargo, American Express, Visa, and Mastercard—businesses that crypto threatens to disrupt the most.
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