Bill Gates, billionaire and founder of Microsoft said that Bitcoin is one innovation that the world can do without. In an interview with CNBC, Gates slammed the cryptocurrencies and said: “It’d be good to get rid of that” adding that cryptocurrencies “allows for certain criminal activities.”
Gates comments came while the digital currency is leading a bullish run since start of February. Bitcoin reached an all-time high of $52,000 on Friday, and the coin’s market capitalization crossed the $1 trillion mark for first time in history. However, Gates described Bitcoin as an innovation that adds no value to the world.
The billionaire and philanthropist’s comments are no different than those of Warren Buffet – CEO of Berkshire Hathaway. Buffet also slammed Bitcoin in 2018 and described the digital currency as a “rat poison” and said that it’s of no value because it is decentralized.
The two billionaires’ comments go against the cryptocurrencies’ wave. In last few weeks, Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) invested $1.5 billion in Bitcoin, while MicroStrategy lifted its debt offering to $900 million to buy Bitcoin. Furthermore, Bank of New York and MasterCard both accepted the digital token and will add it to their system.
Bill Gates & Warren Buffett VS Elon Musk
According to Bloomberg billionaires index, Gates estimated net worth is around $137 billion. He is the world’s third wealthiest person, following Elon Musk CEO of Tesla, and Jeff Bezos consecutively. Gates said that he doesn’t own any cryptocurrency, and that he was offered some Bitcoins in his birthday but he forgot where he stored them.