Charlie Munger Doubles Down on Crypto FUD, ‘I’m Not Proud of My Country’ to Offer ‘Crypto Shit’

Charlie Munger has made it no secret that he is no fan of crypto.

The Berkshire Hathaway vice chairman told the Daily Journal during an annual shareholder meeting on February 15 that he is ashamed that the US government has so far taken such a lenient approach to regulating it, preferring a complete ban instead.

Munger said that those who believe in crypto are “idiots”, adding that he sees no inherent value in the asset, while adding that traditional currencies, on the other hand, have helped man evolve “from a successful monkey to one [successful] human.”

“It [crypto] is not even a little stupid, it is enormously stupid, and of course it is very dangerous; the governments were completely wrong to allow it. And of course I’m not proud of my country for allowing this crap – well, I call it crypto crap. It is worthless, it is madness, it is not good, it will do nothing but harm, and it is antisocial to allow it.”

Munder added that he sees no rational argument for why a cryptocurrency must exist. “I don’t think that’s a rational argument against my position,” Munger said.

On the presence of the government in money, Munger said that currencies and countries go hand in hand.

“You should be able to say a lot of questions: how big should the social safety net be? It’s a place where reasonable minds can disagree, and you should be able to make the other side’s case about it as well as the case you believe in, Munger said.

“But when you’re dealing with something as horrible as crypto crap, it’s just indescribable,” he added. “I’m ashamed of my country that so many people believe this kind of crap and the government allows it to exist.”

His comments echo a number of other statements he’s made over the years, including calling crypto a “venereal disease” and Bitcoin “probably rat poison squared.”

Comments that have only intensified following the collapse of FTX, once one of the world’s largest crypto exchanges.

Together with investor Warren Buffet, the two Berkshire Hathaway executives have expressed their complete displeasure with crypto several times. Their firm focuses on a diverse portfolio that includes investments in sectors such as insurance, retail, energy, finance, transportation and manufacturing, and others. Between Munger and Buffet, the two have honed a very successful investment mission based on identifying distressed companies with long-term growth potential. Berkshire Hathaway has a current market capitalization of over $500 billion.

As of February 16, the total cryptocurrency market capitalization was approximately $1.07 trillion, down from a peak of over $2.7 trillion in November 2021.

However, in 2023, Bitcoin and Ethereum have experienced a significant decline, along with other cryptos, which have increased by approximately 40% and 35% respectively so far this year.