The debate over cryptocurrency is always heated. Many traditional investors don’t see it as a legitimate investment at all. Billionaire investor Warren Buffet has always been one of the most vocal detractors against cryptocurrencies. He reportedly doesn’t even consider buying bitcoin as investing and compares it to gambling.
He made the comments during an interview at Berkshire Hathaway’s annual shareholder’s meeting. Buffet spoke with Yahoo Finance about his ongoing skepticism of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. “There’s two kinds of items that people buy and think they’re investing,” he said. “One really is investing and the other isn’t.”
“If you buy something like a farm, an apartment house, or an interest in a business… You can do that on a private basis… And it’s a perfectly satisfactory investment,” he went on to say. “You look at the investment itself to deliver the return to you. Now, if you buy something like bitcoin or some cryptocurrency, you don’t really have anything that has produced anything. You’re just hoping the next guy pays more.”
According to the Berkshire Hathaway CEO, it’s not investing, but speculating. “Speculating is like gambling. If you want to gamble, someone else might come along and pay more tomorrow. But this is gambling, not investing.”
Needless to say, he doesn’t see a bright future for cryptocurrencies.“In terms of cryptocurrencies, generally, I can almost say with certainty that they will come to a bad ending,” Buffet said.