YEREVAN, March 18. / ARKA /. In an interview with CNBC last Friday, legendary investor and multi-billionaire Warren Buffett described bitcoin as “a mirage” because of his view that the crypto-currency’s intrinsic value as a means of payment is grossly overhyped, vestifinance.ru reported.
Buffet acknowledged that e-currencies offer an efficient way to transfer value but warned investors to “stay away” from bitcoin. He accepted that bitcoin was a “very effective way of transmitting money” but sees a major flaw in the product’s valuation.
As Buffett put it: “A check is a way of transmitting money, too. Are checks worth a whole lot of money just because they can transmit money? Are money orders? You can transmit money by money orders. People do it. I hope bitcoin becomes a better way of doing it, but you can replicate it [money transmission] a bunch of different ways.”
In a major putdown, Buffett concluded: “The idea that [bitcoin] has some huge intrinsic value is just a joke in my view.”
This is not the first time the Berkshire Hathaway founder has commented on what is arguably now the world’s best known e-currency. At the beginning of March, Buffet dismissed the notion that bitcoin is a currency, adding that he “wouldn’t be surprised if it wasn’t around in the next 10-20 years”.
Buffet earned his billions by being extremely conservative, basing his financial plays on investments with a high degree of certainty. -0-
