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Alexandra Semenova · Reporter February 15, 2023, 10:21 p.m.· 3 min read Legendary investor Charlie Munger pulled no punches when it came to offering his latest anti-cryptocurrency views on Wednesday.
In Munger’s view, traditional currencies have helped turn man “from a successful ape to a [successful] human,” he said during the Daily Journal’s shareholder meeting in Los Angeles on Wednesday.Munger said claims cryptocurrencies can replace national currencies is the equivalent of saying that air can be replaced.
“It isn’t even slightly stupid, it’s massively stupid, and of course it’s very dangerous, and of course the governments were totally wrong to permit it,” Munger told CNBC’s Becky Quick during a livestream of the event .
“And of course, I am not proud of my country for allowing this crap — well, I call it crypto shit.It’s worthless, it’s crazy, it’s not good, it’ll do nothing but harm, it’s antisocial to allow it.”
“I think the people that oppose my position are idiots,” the 99-year-old Munger when asked about his recent op-ed in the Wall Street Journal calling for a ban on the asset class.”And so I don’t think there is a rational argument against my position.”
Munger, who has drawn criticism for praising the Chinese government in the past, said the nation’s leaders were right not to allow cryptocurrencies.The People’s Bank of China banned all cryptocurrency transactions in September 2021.
Berkshire Hathaway Chairman Warren Buffett (left) and Vice Chairman Charlie Munger are seen at the annual Berkshire shareholder shopping day in Omaha, Nebraska, U.S., May 3, 2019.
REUTERS/Scott Morgan “You oughta be able to state a lot of issues: how big should the social safety net be? That’s a place where reasonable minds can disagree, and you should be able to state the case on the other side about it as well as the case you believe in,” Munger said.
“But when you’re dealing with something as awful as crypto shit, it’s just unspeakable,” he added.”I’m ashamed of my country that so many people believe in this kind of crap and the government allows it to exist.”
In recent years, Munger has called crypto a type of ” venereal disease ” and once referred to Bitcoin ” probably rat poison squared .”
Story continues Munger’s remarks Wednesday come following the collapse of FTX, previously one of the largest crypto exchanges in the world before founder Sam Bankman-Fried was accused of defrauding investors, among other crypto scandals that were surfaced in 2022.
Digital asset values have plunged over the last year after reaching all-time highs reached in 2021 as the Federal Reserve’s interest rate-hiking campaign prompted investors to steer away from speculative pockets of the market.
As of Wednesday, the total market cap of cryptocurrencies stood at around $1.07 trillion, down from a record north of $2.7 trillion reached in Nov.2021.
In 2023, Bitcoin ( BTC-USD ) and Ethereum ( ETH-USD ) have rebounded sharply along with other risk assets and are up roughly 40% and 35%, respectively, year-to-date.
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Alexandra Semenova is a reporter for Yahoo Finance.Follow her on Twitter @alexandraandnyc
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