Warren Buffet, billionaire finance genius at Berkshire Hathaway has never been shy about showing his disdain for crypto in general and for Bitcoin specifically. Well, it seems that just as Bitcoin is rising again, with a bump in its value of over 62% since the beginning of the year, Warren Buffet has turned to talk about it again.
Seashells comment is weird but points deeper meaning
Berkshire Hathaway invited reporters to Omaha and held a meeting that included a few choice words from the long-time investing genius who has entered the world’s consciousness as the main man when it comes to investing.
This time, however, his comment became really weird, when he compared Bitcoin to seashells “or something.” He has famously said that Bitcoin provides absolutely no value and has stuck with that analyses for years. He repeated this same line of thought at the meeting in Omaha.
While having a chat with reporters, he called Bitcoin a “gambling device.” He went on to say that it (Bitcoin) “just sits there” while it has not managed to produce anything.
He then uttered the weird words “it’s like a seashell or something,” which might show a change in attitude from the wily, old investor. Seashells were used as currency in all parts of the world, from West Africa to Asia and including Native American Tribes. They were a fantastic store of wealth in a time before we had paper currency or safe ways to transport gold. It was considered by many to be a perfect currency for the time as it had about as much use as paper money does today. It was the perfect transition currency, and this could point to a change in Buffet’s thinking (slightly).
Improvement in the feeling towards crypto
It’s certainly an improvement on his previous remarks about Bitcoin where he called Bitcoin “rat poison squared.” He also explained to reporters that cryptocurrency was like his buttons. He could rip one off of his jacket, say that it costs $1000 and try and sell it after a day for $2000. That could work, but the button has one, very limited use so what the point is?
Many in the industry think that Buffet has come around to cryptocurrency but does not want to admit it, so he is sowing the seeds for a subtle change in his view. Bitcoin is traded and is not much of an investment tool currently. It is difficult to buy goods with Bitcoin (yes, there are some stores that accept it) unless it is direct trade. It is not a perfect currency that can be used like fiat, at least at the moment.
However, it could be a transitional currency soon. Bitcoin is the in-between asset much like seashells. Seashells helped wean society off of person to person barter and were available before gold became the standard. Could Bitcoin be the seashell of the modern world?
Only time will tell. With so many competing standards and protocols, there can only be one winner, and that winner might be Bitcoin.
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