Berkshire Hathaway's Charlie Munger Says Bitcoin Is 'Disgusting And Contrary To Interests Of Civilization'

The inevitable question came up about Bitcoin BTC/USD during today's Berkshire Hathaway Inc (NYSE: BRK-A)(NYSE: BRK-B) 2021 shareholders meeting with Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger.

Buffett Dodges: Buffett, chairman of Berkshire Hathaway, said he hates it when he sees politicians dodge questions, but that he would do so himself on the question of Bitcoin.

"We had a governor one time in Nebraska, a long time ago, and he would get a tough question, you know. 'What do you think about property taxes?' or 'What should we do about schools?' and he'd look right at the person, and he'd say, 'I'm all right on that one!' and he'd walk off. Well, I'm all right on that one," Buffett said before turning it over to Vice Chairman Munger.

See Also: How To Buy Bitcoin

Munger Weighs In: "Those who know me well are just waving the red flag to the bull," Munger said. "Of course, I hate the Bitcoin success. I don't welcome a currency that's so useful to kidnappers and extortionists and so forth. Nor do I like just shuffling out a few extra billions and billions and billions of dollars to someone who just invented a new financial product out of thin air. I think I should say modestly that I think the whole damned development is disgusting and contrary to the interests of civilization, and I'll leave the criticism to others." 

To which Buffett responded, "I'm all right on that one!"

Earlier in February, Munger had said that trading cryptocurrencies is "just dementia" and that the price of Bitcoin was far too volatile to be a mainstream medium of exchange.

"It's really kind of an artificial substitute for gold, and since I never buy any gold, I never buy any Bitcoin. I recommend that other people follow my practice," he said. 

Bitcoin reached a new record high of over $63,000 on April 13. 

Price Action: Bitcoin is up 96.62% year-to-date. Bitcoin is up slightly by 1.76% in the last 24 hours at $57,776.