Bill Gates, cofounder of Microsoft, says that crypto is an investment class that is 100% based upon the Greater Fool Theory. The billionaire also mocked Bored Ape NFTs, stating: “Obviously, expensive digital images of monkeys are going to improve the world immensely.”
Bill Gates speaks out on Crypto and NFTs
Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates talked about cryptocurrency and non-fungible tokens (NFTs) at this year’s Techcrunch Sessions: Climate 2022 event Tuesday.
Referring to the Bored Ape Yacht Club NFTs, Gates sarcastically said: “Obviously, expensive digital images of monkeys are going to improve the world immensely. That’s so incredible.”
He clarified, “I’m used to asset classes like a farm where they have output or a company where they make products,” describing crypto as:
An asset class that’s 100% based on some sort of Greater Fool Theory that somebody’s going to pay more for it than I do.
Greater Fool Theory states that the market will always have a larger fool willing to pay more for an overvalued investment. However, eventually, when there’s no one left willing to pay a higher price, asset prices can decline sharply, leaving investors holding worthless investments.
Gates stressed that he is not getting involved in any asset that “at its heart has sort of this anonymity that you avoid taxation or any sort of government rules about kidnapping fees or things.” He emphasized:
I’m not involved in that. I’m not long or short in any of those things.
The billionaire also claimed that the digital banking efforts he supports through his philanthropic foundations are “hundreds of times more efficient” than cryptocurrencies.
Microsoft’s co-founder is a longtime critic of Bitcoin and cryptocurrency. During a Reddit AMA in May, he declared that he did not have any cryptocurrency. “I like investing in things that have valuable output,” the billionaire explained. “The value of crypto is just what some other person decides someone else will pay for it, so not adding to society like other investments.”
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