After Warren Buffett, Berkshire Hathaway Vice-Chairman Slams Bitcoin, Calls It ‘Noxious Poison’

A little over a month after Berkshire Hathaway chairman and CEO Warren Buffet expressed his dislike for cryptocurrencies, saying “they will come to a bad ending,” vice-chairman of the company Charles Munger expressed his disdain for bitcoin, calling it a “noxious poison” and investments in it “totally asinine.”

“I never considered for one second having anything to do with it. I detested it the moment it was raised. It’s just disgusting. Bitcoin is noxious poison,” Munger reportedly said.

Depending on when someone invested in bitcoin, the world’s best-known cryptocurrency (and at least as of now, also the most valuable), Munger’s comments — made Wednesday in Los Angeles — could sound very sensible, or asinine themselves. For instance, if someone purchased bitcoin exactly a year ago, on Feb. 16, 2017, when the cryptocurrency was trading near the $950 level, the comments would seem crazy, while the investment would be worth 10 times today.

In fact, only if bitcoin was bought between late November 2017 and the beginning of February would it mean a loss in investment. And buying during those 5-6 weeks meant the investment in bitcoin was made during an unprecedented upward rally in its prices, which any seasoned investment expert, like Munger, would tell you is not the ideal time to make an investment.

But Munger wasn’t satisfied with only badmouthing bitcoin, he also expressed a desire to see a government crackdown on cryptocurrencies, along the lines of what China has done.

“Our government’s more lax approach to it is wrong. The right answer to something like that is to step on it hard,” he said.

The impact of China clamping down on cryptocurrencies was brutal for the value of the virtual currencies. Bitcoin, which was trading at close to $20,000 mind-December, crashed to below $6,000, and other digital currencies followed a similar fate. However, they have recouped some of their losses since. Bitcoin passed the $10,000 mark during trade Thursday, and was hovering just under that level early Friday, registering a gain of over 15 percent in one week.

The value of bitcoin had dipped below $10,000 in January, shortly after Buffett’s comments criticizing the cryptocurrency.