99-Year-Old Charlie Munger Calls For Crypto Ban – Crypto News Today

99-year-old billionaire Charlie Munger believes the lack of regulation in the crypto industry is pushing private companies to release cryptocurrencies with predatory tokenomics. He’s not wrong, but his solution – banning all cryptos in the US – seems a bit drastic.

Following the “splendid example” of China

Charlie Munger still doesn’t like crypto.

The 99-year-old vice chairman of Berkshire Hathaway published an editorial in the Wall Street Journal yesterday in which he called on the United States to ban crypto altogether.

“A cryptocurrency is not a currency, commodity or security. Instead, it is a gambling contract with an almost 100% house edge, made in a country where the Gaming contracts are traditionally only regulated by states that compete with laxity,” Munger said. He criticized crypto projects for pre-selling tokens to VCs before releasing only a portion of the token supply to the public – a predatory system that allows blue chip investors to dump their holdings on retail investors.

“Such miserable excess has continued because there is a loophole in the regulations,” Munger said, citing the need for government pre-approval of disclosures before a private company issues a new one. piece. He then urged the United States to follow China’s lead and simply ban cryptocurrencies, saying the nation should thank “Chinese communist leader [Xi Jinping] for his magnificent example of extraordinary common sense.

This isn’t the first time the billionaire has aired his views on crypto; in fact, the editorial may well mark Munger’s most reasonable critique of the industry to date. In May 2021, Munger declared that the asset class was “disgusting and contrary to the interests of civilization”, adding that he “did not welcome a currency so useful to kidnappers and extortionists etc.”

Munger’s famous business partner, Berkshire Hathaway Chairman and CEO Warren Buffett, has also expressed his skepticism towards crypto, albeit in milder terms. “The idea [that Bitcoin] has enormous intrinsic value is a joke in my opinion,” he said in a 2018 CNBC interview.

Disclaimer: At the time of writing this article, the author of this article owned BTC, ETH, and several other crypto assets.