Bill Gates slams Crypto, NFTs as based on ‘Greater-Fool’ theory
Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates has dismissed cryptocurrency like nonfungible tokens (NFTs) as "100% based on greater fool theory."
"Obviously, expensive digital images of monkeys are going to improve the world immensely," Gates said sarcastically while speaking at a climate conference in Berkeley, California on Tuesday.
The greater fool theory is the business concept that even overpriced assets can make money once you find a bigger idiot to sell them to.
Bill Gates says he prefers investing in assets with tangible outputs that can benefit the world, Reuters reported.
He has criticized crypto before, sparring with Elon Musk last year over whether Bitcoin is too risky for retail investors and the environmental harm of mining coins.
Gates claims he is not involved in either cryptocurrencies or NFTs and in 2021 warned people to stay away from both. Since then, the value of both NFTs and cryptocurrencies has fallen sharply.
Bitcoin, which was trading at over $64,000 in November, is now currently trading at just above $20,000.
According to a Bloomberg report, bitcoin plunged more than 15% Monday and another 5.4% Tuesday, part of a broader crypto sell-off fueled by higher than forecast US inflation and the halt of withdrawals by the lending platform Celsius. Popular NFT collections, including the celebrity-favoured Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC), are also being hit hard.
