What do billionaires think about Bitcoin?

Bill Gates has always been skeptical of Bitcoin, Warren Buffett has called this cryptocurrency "rat poison", while Elon Musk once called Bitcoin "a good thing".

The world's most popular cryptocurrency has been on a steady rise recently. On March 5, the price of Bitcoin exceeded $68,800 and then $69,000 per coin - the highest in history.

Since its launch in 2008, Bitcoin has been controversial, due to its high price volatility, lack of regulation, and difficulty tracking transactions. Over the past 16 years, the digital currency has attracted a large fan base, but also received criticism and skepticism. Global billionaires also have different views on Bitcoin.

Elon Musk

Elon Musk is known for his tweets and statements that rock the cryptocurrency market. However, his views on Bitcoin are quite mixed. In early 2021, while chatting on the audio social media app Clubhouse, the billionaire said that "Bitcoin is a good thing" and that he was "late to the party."

Tesla, the electric car company he runs, also bought billions of dollars worth of Bitcoin and once allowed customers to pay with the digital currency. But it later announced it would stop accepting it, citing environmental concerns about Bitcoin mining.

In late 2021, Musk also criticized Bitcoin as just a tool to give more power to the rich. He also warned that cryptocurrencies are not a serious financial investment option.

Last year, Tesla sold all of its Bitcoin holdings. Musk also announced that he was no longer interested in cryptocurrencies and was moving on to AI.

Warren Buffett

The investment legend has a rather harsh view when it comes to Bitcoin. He once called the cryptocurrency "rat poison" and "a gambling tool".

"It doesn't do anything. It's just there. Like a seashell or something. To me, it's not an investment," the billionaire said at Berkshire Hathaway's 2019 annual meeting.

At the 2022 AGM, Buffett mentioned Bitcoin again. "Whether it's up or down in the next five or 10 years, I don't know. But one thing I'm pretty sure of is that it's not producing anything," he said. Because according to Buffett, to have value, an asset "needs to provide something to someone."

Bill Gates

Like his longtime friend Warren Buffett, the Microsoft co-founder has always been skeptical of Bitcoin. He worries about the volatile nature of the digital currency, especially the fact that Bitcoin is heavily influenced by the social media moves of celebrities like Elon Musk.

In 2021, in an interview with Bloomberg , Gates warned about investing in Bitcoin: "Elon has a lot of money. He's also smart. If you don't have as much money as Elon, be careful."

On the Reddit forum in 2022, when asked about Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies in general, he said that this currency does not bring value to society like other investments. Gates also affirmed that he does not own cryptocurrencies.

Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss

The Winklevoss brothers are the world's first Bitcoin billionaires. They rose to fame in 2006 when they sued Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg for allegedly stealing their idea for the social network. In 2009, they were awarded $65 million in damages.

The brothers invested $11 million in Bitcoin in 2013. The virtual currency they bought at that time was equivalent to 1% of the Bitcoin in circulation.

Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss call Bitcoin the "trade of the century." They say Bitcoin is "better than gold" and the missing piece of the digital economy.

“I remember people saying Facebook was a crazy thing,” Tyler told the Financial Times in 2016. “We felt like we were in the same movie, just with different actors.”

Mark Cuban

Billionaire investor Mark Cuban doesn't believe in Bitcoin. He once commented that cryptocurrency supporters act like "religious believers" and Bitcoin has "no chance" of becoming a reliable currency.

On Forbes in 2020, Cuban asserted: "The view that Bitcoin is a store of value like gold sounds more like a belief than a solution. Bitcoin will never be a hedge in times of risk." The billionaire even compared that if he had to choose between Bitcoin and bananas, he would rather eat bananas.

Carl Icahn

In 2018, billionaire investor Carl Icahn commented on CNBC that Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies were a "joke." "I don't like cryptocurrencies, maybe because I don't understand them," he explained. Icahn was concerned about how these cryptocurrencies were regulated, and said he was too old to be involved in the field.

By 2021, however, the billionaire seemed to have changed his mind. In an interview with Bloomberg , Icahn said he was studying Bitcoin, Ethereum and cryptocurrencies in general for opportunities. The 88-year-old billionaire also asserted that critics of cryptocurrencies having no fundamental value were "misguided."

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