Charlie Munger: "Bitcoin is an artificial substitute for Gold"

[jaysabi]

The clip over at Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Zh_9cBQSYU

While I have great respect for Charlie Munger and Warren Buffett, it feels like they have missed the boat on Bitcoin - leaving a lot of money on the table as it were. They have famously avoided tech stocks until investing in Apple relatively late and it seems they have gotten increasingly risk adverse in their old age. Personally I think that Bitcoin is an artificial substitute for gold and that is actually a good thing. Having some gold coins myself during Covid, I have sold them face-to-face in the past but most businesses were closed during this time and it simply doesn't feel safe sending such high value items through the post - Bitcoin does not face such a problem. Of course Gold has practical physical world uses as well, but the majority is kept in the form of jewelry or investment grade forms. I find it funny that Charlie seems to have mellowed a bit on it, I'm sure he has labelled it evil in the past..

They haven't missed the boat because they were never going to get on the boat. They don't invest in assets that don't produce income like gold and bitcoin, they've never been interested in that and it's never been part of their investment universe. They invest in companies that generate cashflow and profit, because that's what they know how to value.

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[tippytoes]

They haven't missed the boat because they were never going to get on the boat. They don't invest in assets that don't produce income like gold and bitcoin, they've never been interested in that and it's never been part of their investment universe. They invest in companies that generate cashflow and profit, because that's what they know how to value.

Very right. They have their own perspectives when it comes to business. And also, they are already old to change their stance on what they believe in. They already lived their life in full, nothing much to regret, I guess. Whether they jump on board in bitcoin or not, they are still rich in their own ways. Just leave this to the new generation. They already done their part in this world. They know what they are doing, why they reached their status in life. So who are we to question their way of doing business?

[blockman]

It's always compared to gold years ago and the first one was digital gold or new gold in this age. And for those old successful investors, they really won't be able to catch up with the tech stocks because they're living traditionally and don't understand what's in it.
I guess after just a few years from now, with all of those negative statements from these popular and successful investors who have said negatively about bitcoin, they'll change.

Exactly, they are just putting in action what they are saying, don't invest in something that you don't understand, honestly, we don't really need to hear their opinions about bitcoin because it is going to be the same old thing that they are going to say and I don't think that they will change that and if you are following them then you should probably stop investing because you don't think for yourself and you always seek other's validation.

We don't need their opinions but it's always the media that are publishing every word they say even if it's a nonsense thing. The media is the one to blame because they know that it will get their attention if they're going to do that against the bitcoin community.
Also, they are public people who'll have media to cover their words everywhere they go at any time.

[jaysabi]

It's always compared to gold years ago and the first one was digital gold or new gold in this age. And for those old successful investors, they really won't be able to catch up with the tech stocks because they're living traditionally and don't understand what's in it.
I guess after just a few years from now, with all of those negative statements from these popular and successful investors who have said negatively about bitcoin, they'll change.

Exactly, they are just putting in action what they are saying, don't invest in something that you don't understand, honestly, we don't really need to hear their opinions about bitcoin because it is going to be the same old thing that they are going to say and I don't think that they will change that and if you are following them then you should probably stop investing because you don't think for yourself and you always seek other's validation.

We don't need their opinions but it's always the media that are publishing every word they say even if it's a nonsense thing. The media is the one to blame because they know that it will get their attention if they're going to do that against the bitcoin community.
Also, they are public people who'll have media to cover their words everywhere they go at any time.

That's plain silly. The media reports what they say because it's newsworthy because of who the are and what they've done. Their opinions aren't nonsense because you disagree with them. I don't know why this community gets themselves so worked up over Buffet and Munger not being fans of bitcoin. Y'all gotta let it go, it doesn't even matter.

[charlesmichel1]

I don't like when people compare Bitcoin to gold or call it digital gold. Both assets are to different to be competitors or substitutions.

[awik p]

It's always compared to gold years ago and the first one was digital gold or new gold in this age. And for those old successful investors, they really won't be able to catch up with the tech stocks because they're living traditionally and don't understand what's in it.
I guess after just a few years from now, with all of those negative statements from these popular and successful investors who have said negatively about bitcoin, they'll change.

Exactly, they are just putting in action what they are saying, don't invest in something that you don't understand, honestly, we don't really need to hear their opinions about bitcoin because it is going to be the same old thing that they are going to say and I don't think that they will change that and if you are following them then you should probably stop investing because you don't think for yourself and you always seek other's validation.

We don't need their opinions but it's always the media that are publishing every word they say even if it's a nonsense thing. The media is the one to blame because they know that it will get their attention if they're going to do that against the bitcoin community.
Also, they are public people who'll have media to cover their words everywhere they go at any time.

That's plain silly. The media reports what they say because it's newsworthy because of who the are and what they've done. Their opinions aren't nonsense because you disagree with them. I don't know why this community gets themselves so worked up over Buffet and Munger not being fans of bitcoin. Y'all gotta let it go, it doesn't even matter.

I think sometimes the news seems to deviate from reality for some purpose. and of course, with the news it will affect the psychology of traders. therefore it depends on us personally in filtering out the news that really happened

[Poker Player]

I don't know how there are so many people in this thread who resent the comparison to gold. Saylor himself says that Bitcoin is gold 2.0. Bitcoin is to gold what email is to mail.

What it does seem is that he says it in a slightly derogatory way, but you have to think that he doesn't need the Bitcon to get rich, and that he is at the end of his life already.

[Mauser]

I don't know how there are so many people in this thread who resent the comparison to gold. Saylor himself says that Bitcoin is gold 2.0. Bitcoin is to gold what email is to mail.

What it does seem is that he says it in a slightly derogatory way, but you have to think that he doesn't need the Bitcon to get rich, and that he is at the end of his life already.

Yeah he is quite old and probably has no big stake in bitcoins. But still at his age to be involved with cryptos is remarkable. Comparing email and mail to bitcoin and gold is great. Sending mail is a logistical nightmare, the same goes dir storing physical gold. Having an online based alternative is just the way to go. Which doesn't mean that gold is going to disappear. In today's world we need Mail and Email, like we need gold and bitcoins.

[dkbit98]

Charlie Munger did say that Bitcoin is like artificial substitute for Gold, but he also said in this interview that he never purchased any Gold and he is not recommending anyone to do it, and same thing applies for Bitcoin.
We couldn't expect anything more from 97 year old man and Warren Buffett partner, who thinks that central banks and fiat money is best invention in human history.
Worth mentioning that he also hates Tesla and he is not sure what is worse for him Bitcoin or Tesla stock, he said that professional investors who enters crypto market are disgusting, and his partner Warren Buffett said that Bitcoin is rat poison.

[Ucy]

Actually if Bitcoin has a robust self-sustaining economy, participants/users wouldn't worry too much about what Business men who are used to the traditional financial systems have to say.
Though I agree that the volatility aspect needs to be checked to make it a good medium of exchange and not just store of value

[goldade]

While I wouldn't dare argue against the fact bitcoin does have quite a lot of benefits over gold,just like OP mentioned, it would be illogical and unfair on our part not to realise that gold does have its own value.
While I also understand that these old folks are actually missing out by not getting on the train of bitcoin, let's not forget the fact that they actually got their wealth without bitcoin.
They invested in gold, stock and real estate and they made their fortune. I believe we should not beat ourselves up on this. If bitcoin works well for you, do it.

[DrBeer]

and it will be more dangerous if your house is full of gold, robbers will feel attracted to enter. whereas in bitcoin when the thieves enter, what will they take. secret seed? while you keep it in your head or on a piece of personal note paper. would a thief be suspicious? of course not !!!!

Charlie and Warren at the age of getting older still insist that they don't want to accept and realize everything. maybe they don't have an heir who likes bitcoin? need to be questioned. because in their hearts Charlie and Warren recognized Bitcoin and the future of crypto assets. maybe they were both just embarrassed to say it.

Now it will be different, now thieves, knowing that a person owns bitcoin, will steal it, torture it for a long time in order to find out the private key. But then what they will do with him is ambiguous. Those. the time has passed when thieves were waiting for the absence of the owners of the house, now they will just be interested in meeting with the owner of the private keys and passwords from the wallet!
I hope you will treat this with humor

[Silberman]

The clip over at Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Zh_9cBQSYU

While I have great respect for Charlie Munger and Warren Buffett, it feels like they have missed the boat on Bitcoin - leaving a lot of money on the table as it were. They have famously avoided tech stocks until investing in Apple relatively late and it seems they have gotten increasingly risk adverse in their old age. Personally I think that Bitcoin is an artificial substitute for gold and that is actually a good thing. Having some gold coins myself during Covid, I have sold them face-to-face in the past but most businesses were closed during this time and it simply doesn't feel safe sending such high value items through the post - Bitcoin does not face such a problem. Of course Gold has practical physical world uses as well, but the majority is kept in the form of jewelry or investment grade forms. I find it funny that Charlie seems to have mellowed a bit on it, I'm sure he has labelled it evil in the past..

If this person meant this as an insult or as a way to put down bitcoin then they do not really understand bitcoin at all, of course bitcoin is an artificial substitute for gold, gold is an element present at nature and originates naturally so humans have nothing to do with it, bitcoin cannot be found in nature and it is just the result of abstract mathematics, so of course it is artificial, but make no mistake its properties make it better than even the purest gold and that is where it resides its utility and value.

[slapper]

I think Digital Gold best describes btc more than an artificial substitute, btc is not artificial because it has a total different features and functions from gold, there is no point comparing btc and gold in the first place because they are different, this is his opinion anyways, nobody really cares.

artifical means "made by man" so in this case I believe bitcoin is "artificial".

And yes, there is no point comparing bitcoin but gold is a good example for bitcoin to overcome and surpass. Actually many people care about what his opinions are and I am not an exception. If a wise man has considered bitcoin as a substitute for gold, there will be a large parts of community start to accept the term

Old man is old man. They might succeed in the past, but now they are building their legacy and the fundamental for us to take over the economy. It is easy to understand why they have missed many opporutnities related to the complex technology

[uneng]

Gold is a stable asset and bitcoin is highly volatile. For this reason I think the comparasion between both isn't accurated. An investor looking for bitcoin investment has a different goal from an investor looking for gold investment. Their investment categories are very different and far from each other.
A good analogy for artifical gold would be a stable low risk investment which keeps its value without much fluctuations. That is definitely not bitcoin.

[Fortify]

The clip over at Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Zh_9cBQSYU

While I have great respect for Charlie Munger and Warren Buffett, it feels like they have missed the boat on Bitcoin - leaving a lot of money on the table as it were. They have famously avoided tech stocks until investing in Apple relatively late and it seems they have gotten increasingly risk adverse in their old age. Personally I think that Bitcoin is an artificial substitute for gold and that is actually a good thing. Having some gold coins myself during Covid, I have sold them face-to-face in the past but most businesses were closed during this time and it simply doesn't feel safe sending such high value items through the post - Bitcoin does not face such a problem. Of course Gold has practical physical world uses as well, but the majority is kept in the form of jewelry or investment grade forms. I find it funny that Charlie seems to have mellowed a bit on it, I'm sure he has labelled it evil in the past..

They haven't missed the boat because they were never going to get on the boat. They don't invest in assets that don't produce income like gold and bitcoin, they've never been interested in that and it's never been part of their investment universe. They invest in companies that generate cashflow and profit, because that's what they know how to value.

I've learned through watching and reading stuff about Buffett & Munger over the years that their words can be a bit misleading sometimes. For example they are always saying that "diversification is protection against ignorance" when trying to warn people about investing in many companies, however Berkshire Hathaway itself is just a collection of diversified companies. The same with gold - they say it is a non-productive asset and talk it down, but they have traded large amounts of silver recently which would fall into the same precious metals category. Another example is Buffett's partnership with 3G venture (or vulture?) capitalists who have gutted many decent companies, but in the past Buffett has always claimed to be a good steward rather than trying to squeeze every penny out of a business. You have to be very wary about the mismatch between their words and their actions, they might be opportunists or have a deeper unseen meaning in what they are saying.

[yhiaali3]

It's okay, elderly people of old age do not like modern, sophisticated things and always prefer the old things that they are used to, it is very difficult for them to change things that they are accustomed to for long periods of time.
For me, I consider bitcoin better than gold in many practical aspects, for example gold needs a safe place to store and protect it and this costs a lot of money, also you need to transfer it physically if you want to sell or buy it, as for Bitcoin, you can store billions of dollars on a small wallet that can be Carrying it in your pocket as well as transporting and storing it does not cost any money. In addition, you do not need to transfer it physically, but the transfer is made to anywhere in the world within minutes via the Internet.

[pixie85]

It's interesting that when asked about digital wallets like paypal and Bitcoin he immediately focused on Bitcoin and ignored the rest.
Maybe this really is an interesting subject to him and people like him. Maybe they are really more worried about Bitcoin being a decentralized form of money.

He also said he's not interested in gold so he's not interested in bitcoin. If people really start seeing Bitcoin as gold that's easy to hold and exchange, it's going to be perfect.

[tbterryboy]

I have to say this is both not a bad thing, and also I understand why they did not care for bitcoin as well. Remember these are 90 year old people, they are too old and they buy stocks like gilette, coca cola, apple, like very known and widely used stuff, those are stocks we all know that will continue forever, there is a very slight chance they could bankrupt, it is obvious that 99.99% chance they will just keep growing bigger and bigger.

They never really took a risk, they just keep working and working and working just to find something that is globally used and a huge corporation, that is not really a big smart decision to make a profit, and his return rates are not big enough to actually deserve him the recognition but since he did that for nearly 70 years he gets recognition. Long story short it would be contrary to anything they have ever done if they invested into bitcoin.

[Argoo]

I wouldn't say that bitcoin is the artificial substitute for gold as there is a cryptocurrency that is the real artificial substitute for gold. If bitcoin is really the artificial substitute then why does bitcoin is not accepted in some country since gold is accepted by all people. Some people are even hiding from their government that they own some bitcoin.

In reality, things are much more complicated than some describe here. Bitcoin and gold have their own advantages and disadvantages. Moreover, in terms of their characteristics, they are more diametrically opposite than they have any similarities. They are actually united only by the high price, but in all other respects they differ sharply from each other. It makes no sense to describe their distinctive characteristics. If we consider the price, then Bitcoin loses here, no matter how high its price compared to gold. Gold has an almost constant value. As for bitcoin, its high price volatility overlaps with all of its really good other characteristics. We have no guarantees that there will be no situation that tomorrow we will wake up and see that the bitcoin price has dropped to $ 20,000 again, or even to $ 10,000.