In an anti-cryptocurrency interview with CNBC’s Squawk Box on April 12, Warren Buffett assumed his familiar role as the FUD train’s conductor. He said he doesn’t want to make a living by placing bets against the house and compared Bitcoin to roulette, sports betting, and chain letters. This represents a change in Buffett’s historical position on Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, which he has a history of disparaging. Buffett reiterated Charlie Munger’s claim that Bitcoin was “rat poison squared” in a January 2018 interview, which became the source of Buffett’s most well-known cryptocurrency quotation. He dodged the question and instead compared cryptocurrency to gambling in his most recent CNBC interview.
Then, in a brief parody of postal chain letters, he changed the subject and asserted that people using Bitcoin were essentially making bets with their money. Losses resulting from the recent banking crisis have affected Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway investment group.
