Billionaire investor and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, Warren Buffett, said that buying bitcoin is not investing, but just a gamble.
In an interview with Yahoo Finance in Omaha, Nebraska, Buffett, who was always against cryptocurrencies, talked about his current thoughts regarding investing in bitcoin and other digital currencies.
"There's two kinds of items that people buy and think they're investing. One really is investing and the other isn't," he said.
He pointed out that when one buys something like a farm, an apartment house, or an interest in a business, its a perfectly satisfactory investment. You look at the investment itself to deliver the return to you, he said.
"Now, if you buy something like bitcoin or some cryptocurrency, you don't really have anything that has produced anything. You're just hoping the next guy pays more," he said.
Regarding cryptocurrency purchase, Buffett said, "You aren't investing when you do that. You're speculating. There's nothing wrong with it. If you wanna gamble somebody else will come along and pay more money tomorrow, that's one kind of game. That is not investing."
Earlier, in an interview with CNBC, Buffett had warned that cryptocurrencies are set to have a bad ending and he would not bet any money on them. Back in 2014, he had told that Bitcoin and its peers were a mirage and it was a joke that they had some huge intrinsic value.
In February, Bill Gates noted that cryptocurrencies are super risky over the long term, and the anonymity they provide to buyers could actually be very harmful as it encourages illicit activities.
Peter Thiel, who is PayPal co-founder and one of the prominent angel investors in tech and cryptocurrencies, recently said he remains bullish on Bitcoin.
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