Berkshire Hathaway Inc. Chairman and CEO Warren Buffett and his right-hand man Charlie Munger don’t appear to be warming up to bitcoin. Asked if their views had changed Saturday afternoon at Berkshire’s annual meeting, Buffett said he preferred tangible assets that produce something, such as farmland, and argued that the U.S. government would never allow a digital asset to supplant the role of the U.S. dollar. Buffett said he Munger, Berkshire’s vice chairman, was more direct: “In my life, I try and avoid things that are stupid, evil and make me look bad in comparison to somebody else…and bitcoin does all three.” Munger said bitcoin was stupid because it was likely to go to zero, evil because it undermines the role of the Federal Reserve and the crucial financial system, and makes the U.S. look foolish “relative to the communist leader of China” who effectively moved to ban bitcoin. The pair’s past criticism has attracted barbs from crypto enthusiasts, with venture capitalist Peter Thiel recently calling Buffett an “enemy” of the digital asset and part of a “financial gerontocracy” working to undermine bitcoin’s adoption.
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