Why doesn't Buffett invest in Bitcoin?
When Bitcoin went from being worthless to a "high" of over $100, Buffett called it "rat poison." Later, when asked what he thought of Bitcoin rising from over $100 to over $9,000, he replied, "It may be rat poison squared." At the Berkshire Hathaway shareholders meeting, Buffett reiterated his pessimism towards Bitcoin, stating, "The final result of cryptocurrency will be very bad because they do not generate any value related to this asset."
Buffett believes the value of assets like cryptocurrency depends on more people entering the market, allowing current holders to sell at higher prices. In an interview with Yahoo Finance, he explained that buying cryptocurrency is speculation, not investment. "There's nothing wrong with that. If you want to gamble that someone will come tomorrow willing to pay more." He described this as gambling, not investing. "We will never buy cryptocurrencies. Even things I think I know a little about have caused me enough trouble. Why would I buy something I don't understand?" He advised to "stay away from Bitcoin. It's basically just an illusion and a way to transfer money. The idea that Bitcoin has huge intrinsic value is a joke to me."
Before Bitcoin, Buffett also refused to invest in gold. He argued that gold has two major flaws. First, as a non-productive asset, gold has no "production capacity." Gold itself cannot multiply or generate other value. Buffett prefers investments like oil fields, which produce oil, factories, which manufacture products, and stocks, which generate dividends. "But if you buy an ounce of gold, it will still be an ounce of gold after hundreds of years."
This year, the price of Bitcoin reached an all-time high of $75,830 and is currently around $64,000. It seems the God of Wealth has heard that Buffett has invested in Bitcoin. I don't know if Buffett regrets his previous statements, but he has certainly been contradicted by the market. What do you think?