Berkshire Hathaway vice chairman calls cryptocurrency a ‘venereal disease’ and says it should be banned

Hot potato: When it comes to cryptocurrency, most people are in one of three camps: love it, dislike it, or are indifferent to the whole concept of digital currency. Billionaire investor and Berkshire Hathaway vice chairman Charlie Munger seems to have his own category – he despises it with passion.

Speaking at a shareholder meeting for the Los Angeles-based Daily Journal Corp. newspaper chain, Munger said that cryptocurrencies are only useful for extortion, kidnapping and tax evasion, calling it “not to be scorned.”

In case anyone is still unsure of their feelings, Munger added that he would like the cryptocurrency to be banned immediately and praised China for banning it. “Of course, I have not invested in cryptocurrencies. I’m proud to have avoided it. It looks like some kind of venereal disease,” Munger added.

In the past, Munger has expressed his views on cryptography. “I hate the success of bitcoin,” he said last year. “I consider this whole damn development disgusting and contrary to the interests of civilization.”

Despite his apparent disgust, Munger said he’s not entirely opposed to the US Federal Reserve launching its own digital currency. “The Federal Reserve could have currency if it wanted to. […] we already have a digital currency, it is called a bank account. All banks are integrated into the Federal Reserve System.”

Munger also talked about the GameStop stock frenzy in 2021. “The big short squeeze at GameStop was a pitiful excess, of course Bitcoin was a pitiful excess,” he said. Munger added that he would tax short-term profits made in the stock market, thereby discouraging such “speculation” and reducing market liquidity.

It is often said that older generations of millionaires and billionaires like Bill Gates are less likely to use cryptocurrencies than their younger counterparts. Perhaps illustrative of this claim is the fact that 98-year-old Munger was born the same year that Lenin died and the Ottoman Empire collapsed, and that his 91-year-old boss Warren Buffett once called Bitcoin “rat poison squared.”

When Munger was born in 1924…

.. Lenin died
.. Ottoman Empire ended
.. Disney created the first cartoon
..IBM was founded in New York State
.. the President of the United States made the first radio broadcast

But of course, let’s hear him talk about #Bitcoin

— CR1337 (@cryptonator1337) February 16, 2022

Even though the couple seem to hate crypto, that hasn’t stopped Berkshire Hathaway from buying $1 billion worth of Nubank shares, Brazil’s biggest fintech bank, which is popular with crypto investors in the South American country. Cointelegraph.

Image credit: Rodney Productions