Old man shouts at a bubble he admits he does not understand
“In terms of cryptocurrencies, generally, I can say with almost certainty that they will come to a bad ending,” the chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway told CNBC in an interview.
Later in the interview he added: “I think what is going on will definitely come to a bad ending.”
Buffett didn’t explain the reason for his dire predictions, but has previously expressed concern about cryptocurrencies’ lack of intrinsic value.
When Buffett speaks, investors listen because during his time at Berkshire Hathaway the firm has comfortably outperformed the markets and other investment vehicles.
But in the interview Buffett admitted that he is not knowledgeable about cryptocurrencies.
“I get into enough trouble with things I think I know something about, why should I take a long or short position in something I don’t know about?” he asked. He then added he’s meeting students on Friday and expects they’ll ask him about Bitcoin, but “I won’t have the answers.”
Nor will he ever have an investment in cryptocurrencies. “We don’t own any, we are not short any, we will never have a position,” he said.
Buffett did, however, joke that announcing Berkshire Hathaway would do something in cryptocurrencies would likely pique investor interest, a reference to incidents like Kodak’s rebirth as a cryptocurrency player and the sudden share price surge after the Long Island Iced Tea Corp renamed itself Long Blockchain. ®
