Warren Buffett's business partner rips into crypto - and says he's ashamed of America for embracing bitcoin and its kin
- Charlie Munger eviscerated cryptocurrencies during Daily Journal's annual meeting.
- Warren Buffett's right-hand man labeled the likes of bitcoin, ether, and dogecoin as "cryptocrappo."
It's fair to say that Charlie Munger isn't the biggest fan of cryptocurrencies.
"Sometimes I call it cryptocrappo and sometimes I call it, well, cryptoshit," the billionaire investor said during Daily Journal's annual meeting on Wednesday, which was broadcasted live by CNBC.
Munger, 99, is Warren Buffett's business partner and the vice-chairman of Berkshire Hathaway. The two men built Berkshire into one of the world's most-valuable corporations by acquiring businesses such as Geico and See's Candies, and purchasing large stakes in Coca-Cola, American Express, and other public companies.
Munger is a Daily Journal director, and oversees the newspaper publisher and legal-software seller's investment portfolio. He dismissed the possibility that he might be wrong about the likes of bitcoin, ether, and dogecoin.
"I think the people that oppose my position are idiots," he said.
Munger, who counts Costco and Tesla-rival BYD among his proudest investments, certainly didn't shy away from laying into crypto.
"It's not even slightly stupid, it's massively stupid," he said. "It's worthless, it's no good, it's crazy, it'll do nothing but harm, and it's antisocial to allow it."
"It's just unspeakable, it's an absolute horror, and I'm ashamed of my country that so many people believe in this kind of crap and that the government allows it to exist," he continued. "It is totally, absolutely, crazy-stupid gambling with enormous house odds for the people on the other side."
Unsurprisingly, Munger advised completely avoiding crypto and the people promoting it. He also underlined the critical role that fiat currencies have played in the development of modern human civilization. He ridiculed the idea of ditching national currencies with crypto, arguing it was as futile as trying to replace countries' air.
Munger denounced the cryptocurrency industry as speculative, unregulated, and predatory earlier this month, and urged the US government to ban it completely. He's previously compared crypto to "rat poison," a "venereal disease," and an "open sewer," and said he wouldn't want anyone involved with it to marry into his family.