Today’s edition of Bitcoin in Brief focuses on a clash between the old guard of the global economy, fearing new innovations they can’t understand, and the young entrepreneurs using them to change the world. We will also show how sometimes well-meaning regulations can backfire and hurt the lawmakers’ own goals.
Also Read: Robinhood App Expands Cryptocurrency Trading to Two More US States
Dinosaur Attack
They say that “if you’re not catching flak you’re not over the target,” so bitcoin must be getting closer to hitting Wall Street because it has gotten a lot of flak recently. Leading the charge was 87-year-old billionaire and legendary investor, Warren Buffett. After previously saying that investing in bitcoin is nothing more than gambling, Buffett has again came out strongly against cryptocurrency at Berkshire Hathaway’s annual meeting on Saturday, May 5th.
“They’re non-productive assets. It essentially will not deliver anything other than supposed scarcity. What does it produce itself? Anytime you buy non-productive assets, you are counting on someone later on buying a non-productive asset. It does come to a bad ending; cryptocurrencies will come to a bad ending. If I could buy a five-year put on every one of the cryptocurrencies, I’d be glad to do it but I would never short a dime’s worth,” he said, concluding that bitcoin is “probably rat poison squared.” And Buffett’s long-time right-hand-man, Charlie Munger, added that trading in cryptocurrencies is “just dementia”.
Musk Strikes Back
Besides bashing bitcoin, Buffett has also taken a swipe at fellow billionaire Elon Musk.
During the latest Tesla quarterly earnings call, Musk explained he doesn’t believe in “moats,” a term often espoused by the Oracle of Omaha. He said: “I think moats are lame. They are like nice in a
