Warren Buffett: Bitcoin is like a seashell or something

The price of Bitcoin is rising again, and famous investors are conjuring up fresh insults for the cryptocurrency. 

Speaking at the annual Berkshire Hathaway meeting in Omaha, legendary investor Warren Buffett — known for his disdain towards everything crypto — once again had choice words for Bitcoin, according to CNBC. And this time, the derogatory remarks got really weird. 

In a short chat with reporters in Omaha, Buffett called Bitcoin “a gambling device” that “just sits there” and that “hasn’t produced anything.” 

“It’s like a seashell or something,” he said. 

Well, seashells are kinda nice, right? Buffett previously said Bitcoin was probably “rat poison squared,” so the seashell remark definitely sounds like an improvement. 

Real Life. Real News. Real Voices

Help us tell more of the stories that matter

Become a founding member

Buffett also likened cryptocurrencies to the buttons on his jacket. 

“I’ll tear off a button here. What I’ll have here is a little token… I’ll offer it to you for $1000, and I’ll see if I can get the price up to $2000 by the end of the day… But the button has one use and it’s a very limited use,” he said. 

Buffett did say that blockchain technology, which Bitcoin is built on, is “very big,” so perhaps he’s softening to the idea of crypto. Maybe next year, eh?

In the meantime, the price of Bitcoin has risen roughly 60% since the beginning of 2019, and is currently trading at $5,936.4 according to CoinMarketCap. 

Disclosure: The author of this text owns, or has recently owned, a number of cryptocurrencies, including BTC and ETH.

Subscribe to the newsletter news

We hate SPAM and promise to keep your email address safe