During Berkshire Hathaway’s (NYSE: BRK-A), (NYSE: BRK-B) annual meeting Saturday, Vice Chairman Charlie Munger said cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) — which the 97-year-old and longtime partner Warren Buffett have criticized for years as lacking regulation and far too volatile to be a mainstream medium of exchange — is “disgusting and contrary to the interests of civilization.”
“I don’t welcome a currency that’s so useful to kidnappers and extortionists,” Munger said. “I think the whole damn development is disgusting and contrary to the interests of civilization.”
Warren Buffett, who had avoided the initial question on bitcoin earlier, jokingly saying he’d anger bitcoin owners if he criticized it, responded to Munger’s comments, saying: “I’m alright on that one.”
Earlier in February, while speaking at the Annual Meeting of Shareholders of the Daily Journal Corporation. Munger — who in November of 2017 called the digital token “a total insanity” — said trading cryptocurrencies is “just dementia”.
Bitcoin Hits New Record High
Bitcoin hit a new all-time high of more than $64,000 apiece in April, up from about $30,000 at the start of 2021, as the crypto’s rally showed little sign of slowing down despite its volatility.
The massive upside – 97% year-to-date – has been attributed to companies and major investment firms like Goldman Sachs (GS), BNY Mellon, Mastercard (MA) and Tesla (TSLA) whose embracement or direct investments in the world’s largest cryptocurrency have made it mainstream. JP Morgan (JPM) is another top Wall Street firm to join the BTC club. The investment bank recently recommended its wealthy clients to take an exposure to Bitcoin in their portfolio.
BTC Price
Bitcoin was last trading above $56,000, down 1.2% on the day. The world’s largest market cap cryptocurrency advanced to an all time high of $64,829 in mid April.
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