[2021-12-04] Berkshire's Charlie Munger Praises China for Banning Crypto

[bbc.reporter]

He can only wish that bitcoin and much of the positive developments in the cryptospace was not invented hehe. A translation of his statement can also be I wish bitcoin was not invented so we can maintain our monopoly on wealth creation. It is certainly very clear that the cryptospace has been receiving billions in institutional investment which would have been invested in Wall Street if there was no cryptospace hehe. He is irritated by this.

In any case, this news annoyed me. I am sharing it annoy also you heehehehehe.



Berkshire Hathaway Vice Chairman Charlie Munger, Warren Buffett’s right-hand man, says China did the right thing to “ban” cryptocurrencies, including bitcoin. He wishes that cryptocurrencies had never been invented, emphasizing that he will not participate in the crypto boom. He considers “this era even crazier than the dot-com era.”

The Berkshire chairman made a few other comments regarding bitcoin and cryptocurrency this year. He opined in May: “I should say modestly that the whole damn development [crypto] is disgusting and contrary to the interest of civilization.”

Source https://news.bitcoin.com/berkshires-charlie-munger-praises-china-banning-crypto-wishes-crypto-had-never-been-invented/

[LeGaulois]

The person is 97 years old and maybe doesn't even know how to use the internet correctly lol, he's surely a successful man with Berkshire Hathaway but I believe his opinion on crypto should be ignored since he doesn't even understand the idea behind it. He's too old for this new tech.

It's one of the persons repeating, like the other parrots, that cryptos are for criminals (I don't welcome a currency that's so useful to kidnappers and extortionists and so forth) I believe it's THE argument to use when you don't know what to say against Bitcoin

But hey grandpa what about the US dollars, THE most used currency by kidnappers and extortionists, and so forth? Isn't it what we call a double standard? I would say YES!

The irony is they own Goldman Sachs's shares as well other banks/assurances in which they will probably provide themselves services/products related to Bitcoin in the years to come

[bbc.reporter]

@LeGaulois. He has become an important person in his world and has come to believe in his own scam as the one and only truth. It is not very dissimilar in some of the people in the cryptospace where we say another coin is a scam only because we are not holding them. It is hypocrisy everywhere. This is everyone including also me hehehe.

[PrimeNumber7]

The person is 97 years old and maybe doesn't even know how to use the internet correctly lol, he's surely a successful man with Berkshire Hathaway but I believe his opinion on crypto should be ignored since he doesn't even understand the idea behind it. He's too old for this new tech.

Age is not a factor in his stance. He is basically running a major insurance company, and needs to understand technology. I would confidently say that he (or someone that reports up to him) has used bitcoin for testing purposes on behalf of his company.

I think his concerns about crypto is that it is difficult to predict in terms of the price, and in terms of legitimate transaction volume (in terms of transactions that are not to yourself). So if many people use crypto, it will become more difficult to value companies, especially private companies (or importantly, companies with competitors who are private). It would similarly be difficult to judge a particular market for similar reasons.

All of the above is how his company makes money.

[DaveF]

That's his view and he is entitled to it. Judging from other things he has said, he seems to feel it's too speculative and risky and not secure / regulated enough.

Berkshire Hathaway made most of their money & profits from long slow low risk investments.
And BTC / crypto is the exact opposite of that, so you can easily see it's not an lack of tech knowledge or anything else. It's just a thing that is opposite of what they want / how they operate. So it's not surprising that he is against it.

-Dave

[Woodie]

The person is 97 years old and maybe doesn't even know how to use the internet correctly lol

97 years old this is a great achievement, but him commenting on bitcoin will certainly raise questions to know if for starters he knows how to use the internet because these are the basic skills of using bitcoin.

Besides With bitcoin requiring you to know your private keys or where you hide them would he really manage his crypto portfolio without help from a third party which is a bad idea for the security of his coins if he has any.

But coming to think of it these fox are merely trying to protect their wealth stored in fiat and not likely to have interest in an asset trying to disrupt the money markets.

[davis196]

What Charlie Munger was trying to say is:
"I wish that Bitcoin/crypto was never invented,so that all the those dumb crypto investors/traders could pump the price of our stocks and buy our stocks at 10x price,so we could make even more money."
That's what he wanted to say,but he would never say it in front of the public.

Crypto development is contrary to the interest of civilization?
Does Charlie Munger know what are the interests of the human civilization?
This guy is starting to get a little bit fanatical.He might lose his mind.

[DooMAD]

Honestly, I'd be more concerned at this stage if he'd had a change of heart.  I'm glad that bankster weasel wants nothing to do with us.  If he loved crypto, I'd take it as a sign we're doing something wrong and that we're in danger of becoming as corrupt and as broken as the system he made his name in.


FYI, OP, I think you've tagged the date wrong in the topic title.  Says 2020 at the moment, so the year is completely wrong.  Plus the article is dated "Dec 4", rather than the 7th.

[bbc.reporter]

What Charlie Munger was trying to say is:
"I wish that Bitcoin/crypto was never invented,so that all the those dumb crypto investors/traders could pump the price of our stocks and buy our stocks at 10x price,so we could make even more money."
That's what he wanted to say,but he would never say it in front of the public.

Crypto development is contrary to the interest of civilization?
Does Charlie Munger know what are the interests of the human civilization?
This guy is starting to get a little bit fanatical.He might lose his mind.

Agreed! The investors and traders in Wall Street might have noticed that they are losing their retail customers to dump on hehe. They are only trading against their peers, their fellow investors and traders. I predict we might witness more of this during the next bull market, where stocks will be stable and profits low and the cryptospace will continue 10x - 100x profits in a short amount of time.

[cr1776]

It says pretty much all you need to know about his morals and intelligence if he is praising an authoritarian regime on banning something that promotes freedom.  He should be ashamed of himself for supporting a communist (or socialist or fascist) regime. Talk about evil.

[bbc.reporter]

@cr1776. However, Charlie Munger can also argue that nothing about bitcoin or the cryptospace has been promoting and fighting for freedom since 2012. The cryptospace has become a place where everyone is looking for a speculative investment that can pump fast and make the rich quick, a place where scammers dump on their followers, a place of hypocrisy and larpers.

I reckon we can shake our heads or laugh at Munger, however, we cannot judge and assume.

[Kakmakr]

Charlie Munger is Berkshire Hathaway's Vice Chairman and Warren Buffett’s right-hand man... so if Warren Buffett is against Bitcoin, then Charlie Munger will also be against Bitcoin, because it's a technology that threaten his bread and butter.  

We also should never forget that these super rich people protect each other and they share inside information... and this is something that gives them an advantage over other people. (They do not have that with Bitcoin, because most large whales are pseudo anonymous)

[mindrust]

Charlie Muncher... Another boomer that doesn't understand the tech. He don't even realize he is living probably. They should just bury him because it makes no difference to anybody whether he is alive or not.

Bitcoin is the one asset that changed the world forever and this Muncher can't see it because either he is too dumb to understand this or it is against his interests. I can't decide which.

[bbc.reporter]

Charlie Munger is Berkshire Hathaway's Vice Chairman and Warren Buffett’s right-hand man... so if Warren Buffett is against Bitcoin, then Charlie Munger will also be against Bitcoin, because it's a technology that threaten his bread and butter.  

We also should never forget that these super rich people protect each other and they share inside information... and this is something that gives them an advantage over other people. (They do not have that with Bitcoin, because most large whales are pseudo anonymous)

It is very arguable if bitcoin has been threatening mainstream whales’ bread and butter. We have also witnessed a bull market in stocks, where much of Berkshire Hathaway’s investments are. What we are presently witnessing with mr. Warren and mr. Charlie is similar to what @mindtrust posted. They do not understand the technology, however, they understand the market and the manipulations behind this.

[uttoransen]

Atleast he thinks that Gold and Bitcoin are the same - and he does not buy gold and he does not buy bitcoin.

The chinese did a very wrong thing, they should have tried to control bitcoin, tax it and made money from it. Banning it made the Chinese people sell their crypto investments for cheaper prices, their crypto rigs and asics were sold for less and on the whole they only got losses.

Their loss is every one else's profits. So many countries gained the same BitCoins and the Alts, the rigs and the asics and even solar panels that no one is counting.

Now the old man thinks that the Chinese did the right thing? Actually the old guy did the wrong thing - ages ago! He had seen bitcoin grow from a few dollars to several hundred dollars but did not buy it. Then it went to several thousand dollars and the old guy still thought it was a waste of time and it will eventually become worth less. And now - that the bitcoin is $42k+ at this time of writing this post - the Grape has surely Turned Sour!

And so is the old man Sour!

[bbc.reporter]

@uttoransen. China’s ban on cryptocoin mining was expected, I reckon. If we not include the fud, their manufacturing industry is suffering because of energy shortages that began when they reduced their importation of coal from Australia and other countries. This is because President Xi began a fight for carbon neutrality that has a roadmap for China to be powered by mostly by renewable energy by 2049.

Also, China’s ban on bitcoin exchanges and trading was their effort to slow down money laundering, corrupton and shadow banking lending because the cryptospace was becoming one of the major ways to do them. It was speculated that Tether was holding billions in commercial paper of Chinese real estate companies before much of those companies debt and liquidity problems.

In any case, China’s real estate bubble pop continues, however, they are presently containing it from spreading to other sectors of their economy or from spreading globally.