On Valentine's Day 2018, 94-year-old Berkshire Hathaway vice chairman Charlie Munger delivered a fiery speech at the Daily Journal annual shareholder meeting in Los Angeles. The long-time partner of Warren Buffett did not mince words about the world's largest cryptocurrency, stating, 'I never considered for one second having anything to do with Bitcoin. I detested it the minute it had been raised.' Munger described Bitcoin as 'disgusting, detestable, noxious poison' and called on governments to take strong regulatory action.
Munger's Sweeping Rejection of Bitcoin
During the two-hour Q&A session, Munger covered a range of economic topics, including the regulatory situation of Wells Fargo. He defended the embattled bank, which had been accused of creating fake accounts and adding unauthorized auto insurance charges, arguing that regulators had already gone too far. However, when it came to Bitcoin, his tone turned sharply opposite: 'Our more relaxed approach is wrong,' he spat. 'The right answer is to step on it hard. It's the government’s job.' He criticized Bitcoin as an affliction of 'everyone wanting easy money' and expressed hope that future generations would not embrace what he called 'totally asinine' behavior.
Munger's comments reflect Berkshire Hathaway's notorious tech-phobia. The firm's stock has routinely traded above $300,000, yet it sat out much of the technology boom over the last quarter century. For value investors like Munger, Bitcoin is too abstract: lacking corporate offices, accountable boards, and large regulatory apparatus, these missing 'fundamentals' spell doom for the cryptocurrency. This classic divide between old-world investors and those open to potentially transformative financial innovations remains a key tension in today's markets.
Clash Between Tradition and the Future
Notably, Munger did not reject all digital payment systems. He praised China's WeChat Pay as an alternative, while reserving his disdain exclusively for Bitcoin. This distinction underscores the fundamental distrust that traditional finance titans hold for decentralized cryptocurrencies. In Munger's view, Bitcoin's popularity stems from sheer greed rather than genuine value creation.
Critics, however, argue that Munger's perspective may be overly conservative. Since his 2018 remarks, Bitcoin has grown from a market capitalization of roughly $100 billion to over $500 billion at times, with the launch of Bitcoin ETFs and increasing institutional adoption. While old-school investors like Munger continue to lambast it, the cryptocurrency shows surprising resilience. The debate over whether Bitcoin represents financial innovation or a dangerous bubble is likely to persist for years to come.
Berkshire Hathaway's stance is not isolated. Many traditional financial institutions remain skeptical, yet a growing number of banks, hedge funds, and public companies are allocating capital to digital assets. Munger's harsh words reignite the fundamental question: is Bitcoin the future of money or just another speculative mania? Only time will tell.