Known for his extremely blunt opinions and matter of fact statements, Charlie Munger has never been one to mince words, be it equating child prostitution to bitcoin, touting crypto as ‘shit’, and calling most cryptocurrency promoters ‘scum balls’. In a recent interview with CNBC, Berkshire Hathaway Vice Chairman, Charlie Munger shared his opinions on the cryptocurrency updates that are sweeping the headlines lately.
Talking about the recent disturbance in the crypto market, Munger blithely stated that when it comes to ‘hot deals’, a certain section of people have no scruples, forgoing their morality to hop on a new trend. “There are people think they gotta be on every deal that’s hot and they don’t care whether it’s child prostitution or Bitcoin. If it’s hot, they want to be on it,” said the Berkshire Hathaway Vice Chairman.
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The interview contained a thinly veiled comment about the latest FTX developments and FTX founder, Sam Bankman-Fried. “But these people are promoting things like — they’re promoting the decline of civilization,” said the 98 year old executive. Munger’s conversation with CNBC comes a week after the crypto exchange FTX and its native token, FTT crashed, wiping out scores of investor wealth, as people rushed to exit the platform. FTX recently filed for bankruptcy, fanning fears for the future of the crypto industry itself.
Not only is he against the crypto industry by and large, Munger also believes that people are losing their reputation in an attempt to grow their wealth through any means possible. “Reputation is very helpful in financial life and to destroy your reputation by associating with scum balls and scum ball promotions, it’s a huge mistake,” he added. America and the world “did not need a currency that’s good for kidnappers and so on”.
When asked about regulation for the crypto industry, Munger stated that the authorities are “confused by the whole damn thing” and that they’re a “bunch of elderly people that have done things a certain way for a long time now.” To Munger, even though the crypto industry was burgeoning and new, there should have been significant regulations and the way the industry has unfolded is “a big joke”. “People think this is a real asset. It’s not a real asset,” he added. Just like his long-time friend and associate, Berkshire Hathaway CEO Warren Buffett, Munger is among the many who believe that the crypto industry is full of duplicity, calling it “partly fraud and partly delusion”.
As a seasoned investor, Munger has always appreciated the advent of new technologies, developments and innovation. He said, “I like the speculative assets of the best of the venture capitalists where they give us a new company like Zoom or a new company like Stripe or something. And so I like the new companies they create and I’m glad we have new things being invented.” However, his appreciation for novelty draws the line at cryptocurrency, since it’s a “delusion” being carried along. He warns that the industry can cause massive damages when it falls, resulting in a wide-scale recession.(The suggestions/recommendations around cryptocurrencies in this story are by the respective commentator. FinancialExpress.com does not bear any responsibility for their advice. Please consult your financial advisor before dealing/investing in cryptocurrencies.)
