Warren Buffett: Bitcoin is “Rat Poison Squared”

Warren Buffett, the billionaire investor whose opinion can send shockwaves through a stock, just dragged bitcoin buyers through the mud on Monday (May 7) by referring to the commodity as “rat poison squared”.

Buffett, the chairman and chief executive of Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE:BRK.A), chalked up bitcoin’s popularity to people simply being interested in its mysterious emergence in the investment space.

“If you don’t understand it, you get much more excited,” Buffett said on CNBC television. “People like to speculate, they like to gamble.”

He also touched on the frequently-mentioned “bubble” that’s surrounded bitcoin by saying that investors would do better by owning US stocks.

However, Buffett isn’t the only business mogul turning his nose up at the cryptocurrency. Charlie Munger, a Berkshire vice chairman and longtime associate of Buffett, described bitcoin as “worthless artificial gold”.

While Buffett compared the surge in bitcoin’s demand to the tulip bulb frenzy in 17th century Holland, Munger opted for an Oscar Wilde reference and called the commodity “the pursuit of the uneatable by the unspeakable.”

Buffett also made investment headlines last week when he said that Berkshire purchased 75 million Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) shares in 2018’s first quarter. The purchase, in addition to the 165.3 million Apple shares the company already owns, earned Berkshire a 5 percent stake in the company.

Shares of Apple saw a 3.9 percent boost on Friday (May 4) following Buffett’s purchase reveal.

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Securities Disclosure: I, Olivia Da Silva, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.