Billionaire Investor Charlie Munger Thinks China Was Right to Ban Bitcoin; Crypto Twitter Responds

The Berkshire Hathaway vice chairman added that he wished crypto had never been invented.

AccessTimeIconDec 3, 2021 at 4:17 p.m. UTC
Updated May 11, 2023 at 4:35 p.m. UTC
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Charlie Munger, the vice chairman of Warren Buffett-owned investment conglomerate Berkshire Hathaway, believes China made the correct decision in banning bitcoin.

The billionaire investor, who has has never been a fan of bitcoin, has now prompted a disparaging response on social media with his latest criticism of crypto.

“The Chinese made the correct decision, which is just simply to ban them,” Munger said in an interview for the Sohn Hearts & Minds Investment Conference, the Australian Financial Review reported Friday.

The Chinese state has introduced much tougher measures against crypto in recent months, outlawing trading and banning financial institutions from offering any crypto-related services, while also tightening its crackdown on the mining industry.

Munger praised China for coming down hard on investment booms and not letting them go too far. “They’re acting in a more adult fashion,” he said. “They were right to step down so hard on corruption.”

He added that he wished crypto had never been invented, saying that people in the crypto business “are not thinking about the customer; they’re thinking about themselves.”

Inevitably, numerous commentators from the crypto community ridiculed Munger’s position on Twitter, both for his praise of China and his ongoing disapproval for bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.

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Jamie Crawley

Jamie Crawley is a CoinDesk news reporter based in London.


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