Warren Buffett’s Right-Hand Man Pushes U.S. Govt To Ban Crypto Altogether

Berkshire Hathaway’s bitcoin bashing barrage doesn’t show any signs of letting up.

Charlie Munger, a 99-year-old billionaire investor and Warren Buffett’s partner at Berkshire Hathaway, has reiterated his hardened stance against cryptocurrencies. Munger has called on the United States to follow China’s lead and institute a complete ban on the fast-growing asset class. 

Following China’s “Splendid Example”

Charlie Munger made more controversial comments about crypto in a Feb.1 opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal — which is not altogether surprising given his history on the subject.

The Berkshire Hathaway Vice Chairman said the mushrooming of cryptocurrencies is due to a gap in regulation as these assets do not qualify as currencies, securities, or commodities. According to him, crypto is “a gambling contract with a nearly 100% edge for the house, entered into in a country where gambling contracts are traditionally regulated only by states that compete in laxity.” Munger believes the U.S. “should now enact a new federal law that prevents this from happening.”

Munger recalled that the Chinese government banned crypto assets such as bitcoin because it “wisely concluded that they would provide more harm than benefit.” As such, he believes the best course of action for the U.S. will be to ban the whole technology, noting that the nation would later thank “Chinese communist leader [Xi Jinping] for his splendid example of uncommon sense.”

While Munger’s take on crypto may resonate with some policymakers and players in legacy finance, Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell has previously indicated that he has no intention to follow China’s example and ban crypto assets. Powell prefers regulating specific areas within the sector, such as stablecoins, which he likened to bank deposits.

Munger And Bitcoin

Like his pal Warren Buffett, Charlier Munger is a harsh skeptic of bitcoin. 

He grabbed the headlines in the past when he called bitcoin a “delusion” and “rat poison squared.”

At one point in February 2022, Munger characterized bitcoin as a venereal disease. He went on to say he didn’t like the digital asset because it was used by extortionists, tax evaders, kidnappers, child traffickers, and terrorists.

Munger also described bitcoin as an “investment in nothing” as he continued his verbal attacks on crypto.

This is not the first time when Munger or Buffett has lashed out at bitcoin, with Buffett going as far as declaring that he wouldn’t pay even $25 for all Bitcoin in the world.