Charlie Munger, a prominent billionaire investor and the vice-chairman of Berkshire Hathaway, again lashed out at cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, while also backing China’s decision to ban most crypto-related activity in the country.
“The Chinese made the correct decision, which is to just simply ban them,” Munger said at the Sohn Hearts & Minds Investment Conference in Sydney, the Australian Financial Review reported.
Earlier this year, China launched a massive crackdown on the crypto industry, forcing major Bitcoin mining operators to leave the country.
Crypto trading and other virtual currencies-related activities were outlawed in China as well, prompting a major shift in the global crypto landscape.
Some of China’s recent policies have hit more traditional companies like Alibaba and Tencent too, who saw their stock plunge over the course of the year.
Despite investors’ concerns, Munger believes that China was acting in “an adult fashion.”
The billionaire went on to say that he wants “to make [his] money by selling people things that are good for them, not things that are bad for them.”
Munger even stated that he’d wish crypto had never been invented and that the investment environment created by the emerging technology had reached levels of extremity, comparing the sector to the dot-com boom of the 1990s.
“I think the dot-com boom was crazier in terms of valuations than even what we have now. But overall, I consider this era even crazier than the dot-com era,” said Munger.
Munger and Bitcoin
This is not the first time when Munger has lashed out at crypto.
Earlier this year, the 97-year old business mogul admitted that he hates Bitcoin and that the “whole damn development is disgusting and contrary to the interests of civilization.”
Bitcoin, the world’s oldest and most popular cryptocurrency, has a market capitalization of over $1 trillion. At the time of writing, BTC is changing hands at around $57,000, up 197% over the last year, per CoinGecko.
Munger doubled down on that approach in his latest talk, saying that people who are getting into cryptocurrencies are not thinking about the customers, but only about themselves.
“Just look at them. I wouldn’t want any one of them to marry into my family,” added Munger.
While Munger’s take on crypto may resonate with some policymakers and traditional finance players, Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell recently revealed that he has no intention to follow China’s example and ban cryptocurrencies.
A more appropriate approach, according to Powell, is to regulate specific areas within the industry, such as stablecoins, which he compared to bank deposits.