Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger's visceral hatred of Bitcoin (and cryptocurrencies) is nothing new. Warren Buffett has repeatedly referred to Bitcoin as “Rat poison squared.” His longtime sidekick Charlie Munger also never misses an opportunity to attack Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies.
As we enter 2023, Charlie Munger has just penned an opinion piece in the Washington Post explaining why he believes “America should ban Crypto.”
To access the op-ed, you can go to the archived version of the article here: https://archive.is/MMSF3
After reading the op-ed, you can argue that Munger never mentions the name Bitcoin but only talks about cryptocurrency. For a Bitcoiner, it is evident that Bitcoin is not equal to cryptocurrency. However, in Munger's case, I doubt that this distinction is made.
For Munger, Bitcoin and cryptocurrency are the same things. He is wrong about this of course, but this is not the only thing Munger is wrong about.
Charlie Munger uses the recent scandals in the cryptocurrency world to generalize:
“In some cases, a big block of cryptocurrency has been sold to a promoter for almost nothing, after which the public buys in at much higher prices without fully understanding the pre-dilution in favor of the promoter.
All this wild and wooly capitalism is much like that described in a remark often attributed to Mark Twain, who was thought to have said that ‘a mine is a hole in the ground with a liar on top.’”
I feel like responding to Charlie Munger that this is indeed why it is necessary to distinguish between Bitcoin and cryptocurrency. The majority of cryptocurrencies will see their value tend towards zero and are just scams that serve to enrich their founder. Charlie Munger has yet to discover the concept of Sh*tcoin.
Bitcoin is a separate species that has nothing to do with what Munger is talking about here.
Charlie Munger's lack of knowledge prevents him from seeing clearly. When you misperceive things, you end up drawing the wrong conclusions. It makes sense. The problem is that Munger doesn't try to challenge his faulty assumptions. If he were interested in understanding things, he would read my book “The Truth About Bitcoin” which would enable him to distinguish between Bitcoin and cryptocurrency.
That's the fundamental starting point to appreciate why Bitcoin is not the scam that he and Warren Buffett are talking about.
Obviously, at his age, you can suspect that Munger will not evolve on the subject. In the rest of his column, Charlie Munger even goes on to praise the CCP dictatorship's decision to ban Bitcoin in the past:
“The communist government of China recently banned cryptocurrencies because it wisely concluded that they would provide more harm than benefit.”
Charlie Munger starts praising the decisions made by an authoritarian regime like Xi Jinping and the CCP. We can see that he is losing it here!
Munger then talks about an example that occurred in England in the early 1700s:
“From the early 1700s, England reacted to a horrible depression that followed the blow up of a promotional plan to get vast profits by using slow-moving sailing ships to trade with very poor people halfway around the world.
What the English Parliament did in its anguish when this crazy promotion blew up, was direct and simple: It banned all public trading in new common stocks and kept this ban in place for about 100 years.
During the 100 years of this ban, Munger says that England experienced an incredible boost on all levels that led to the Enlightenment and the Industrial Revolution. If Munger is to be believed, if America were to ban cryptocurrency (and by extension Bitcoin), then a wonderful new century could come to America...”
If we listen to Charlie Munger, America could experience unprecedented prosperity if the country embraced the path of totalitarianism pushed by China.
Munger's conclusion is disappointing for someone who claimed to be a free market advocate in the past:
“What should the U.S. do after a ban of cryptocurrencies is in place? Well, one more action might make sense: Thank the Chinese communist leader for his splendid example of uncommon sense.”
Charlie Munger is a multi-billionaire who can afford to miss out on the Bitcoin opportunity. Besides, given his age, it won't make a difference in his life. The problem is more with Berkshire Hathaway's clients and the people who listen to his lies. They are in danger of missing out on Bitcoin. An essential opportunity to regain power over the fruits of their labor.
Finally, it's important to remember that using the CCP's decisions as an example is not a good thing. Tomorrow you will hear the same Charlie Munger say that he envies the mass surveillance society that the CCP has set up in China to better control the lives of Chinese people and censor them.
Bitcoin should be seen as a peaceful weapon to resist these threats in a future world where governments and central bankers will try to censor us more and more.
Bitcoin is an opportunity, and it's up to you to seize it.
More reading: Jerome Powell Has Spoken: The Plan Is Becoming Clearer for Bitcoin in the Coming Months.
Don't take for granted the word of Bitcoiners who tell you that Bitcoin is an incredible monetary revolution, but verify it for yourself by developing the knowledge to build your truth about Bitcoin.
That's what I suggest you do in the book “The Truth About Bitcoin: Everything you need to build your truth about Bitcoin and stop trusting others without verifying.”
The book is available on various platforms:
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In P2P mode in PDF format or EPUB format with payment in BTC: contact me by email at [email protected]
