• Charlie Munger has reiterated his view on cryptocurrencies – in the latest edition, he has called them disgusting and contrary to the interests of civilization.
• His business partner Warren Buffet has called out free trading platforms like Robinhood by comparing them to gambling.

Warren Buffet and his right-hand man Charlie Munger have in this year’s annual Berkshire Hathaway meeting been warning traders about the recent markets’ frenzy. Munger in particular has been talking about Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies at large. The 97-year-old was critical of the digital asset, going as far as saying he hates its success.

Of course, I hate the bitcoin success and I don’t welcome a currency that’s useful to kidnappers and extortionists, and so forth. Nor do I like just shuffling out of extra billions and billions and billions of dollars to somebody who just invented a new financial product out of thin air.

The investor, who is worth $2.1 billion, added:

So, I think I should say modestly that I think the whole damn development is disgusting and contrary to the interests of civilization. And I’ll leave the criticism to others,

Warren Buffet declined to make any comments on this particular topic. However, he had some strong opinions towards stock trading and free trading platforms such as Robinhood. He has warned that trading is not as easy as most investors might tend to think. He thinks choosing particular stocks that can succeed is hard and investors would be better suited with an S&P 500 index fund. On trading platforms, he compared this to gambling, further adding,

“There is nothing illegal to it, there’s nothing immoral, but I don’t think you build a society around people doing it,”

Applications such as Robinhood have been at the heart of the current retail trading frenzy. In the crypto market, DOGE’s 2021 performance has been credited to retail interest coming from Robinhood.

Why expect different from the two?

The comments from the veteran businessmen come as no surprise. In the past, Warren Buffet has called Bitcoin rat poison and its investors delusional. Munger on the other hand has previously talked about Bitcoin’s valuation, comparing it to gold.

So I don’t think bitcoin is going to end up the medium of exchange for the world. It’s too volatile to serve well as a medium of exchange. And it’s really kind of an artificial substitute for gold. And since I never buy any gold, I never buy any bitcoin.

Their views stem from their lack of knowledge of how Bitcoin works and what it fixes in the financial system. Additionally, why would they support something that aims to fix the system that made them their fortune?

But just like Warren Buffet didn’t understand Amazon and Microsoft, but would later come to regret them as costly mistakes which would have made the investor outrageous profits, he might come to regret not buying Bitcoin.

But while the two businessmen continue to represent an old model of thinking, other billionaires like Elon Musk, Jack Dorsey, Kevin O’Leary, and Mark Cuban have been more adaptive and progressive, recognizing the potential in Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies at large.