Charles Munger likens cryptocurrencies to a ‘disease’ and praises China for its ban

Charles Munger, vice chairman of Berkshire Hathaway’s board, said that cryptocurrencies are used in illicit activity and should be banned. He said he is ‘proud’ to have avoided investing in digital assets.

“I, of course, did not invest in cryptocurrencies and I am proud to have avoided this. This is like a venereal disease,” Munger said at the Daily Journal Corporation conference.

According to the billionaire, Bitcoin and other digital assets are used by ransomware operators, hackers, terrorists and other criminals, as well as those seeking to evade taxes.

Munger noted that U.S. authorities should “immediately” ban cryptocurrencies. He stressed that he “admired” China, which has spoken out against the industry. In his view, the United States has “erred” in allowing digital-asset operations on its soil.

Elon Musk responded to the Berkshire Hathaway vice-chairman’s criticism. He recalled that in 2009 Munger publicly stated that Tesla would fail. Tesla is now the most valuable automotive company in the world, with a market capitalization of more than $950 billion.

I was at a lunch with Munger in 2009 where he told the whole table all the ways Tesla would fail.

Made me quite sad, but I told him I agreed with all those reasons & that we would probably die, but it was worth trying anyway.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 16, 2022

“I was at a lunch with Munger in 2009, and he told the whole table all the reasons Tesla would fail. I got quite sad, but I told him I agreed with all those arguments and that we would probably fail, but it’s still worth trying,” Musk wrote.

Earlier, Munger compared Tesla and Bitcoin to “lice and fleas”, and questioned the ability of digital gold to “become a global means of payment.”

In December, Munger said that Chinese authorities took the right decision, banning cryptocurrencies and related activities. He said at the time that he would have preferred that digital assets had never been invented.

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