Warren Buffett no longer considers Bitcoin to be “rat poison squared,” now calls it a “gambling token”

Updated: 13 April 2023

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Warren Buffett, the legendary investor and chairperson of Berkshire Hathaway, became quite well-known as one of the biggest Bitcoin skeptics in the broader financial industry. In the past, Buffett called the asset “rat poison squared.” Despite multiple attempts to explain the benefits of digital assets to him — including Justin Sun’s private dinner with him — he still seems unconvinced.

Warren Buffett now thinks of crypto investing as gambling

In his recent interview, Buffett took another swing at Bitcoin, calling it a “gambling asset” and denying that it has any intrinsic value. This stance seems like Buffett’s anti-Bitcoin ideology was somewhat softened, as he now seems to understand its use in speculative investing.

While comparing the crypto market to gambling, he said: “We’ve had an explosion of gambling. I like to bet on a football game if I’m sitting and watching — it makes it more interesting. But I don’t think I want to make a living trying to bet against the house.”

"People like to play the lottery," says Warren Buffett on the crypto craze. "It's appealing to the gambling instinct. We've had an explosion of gambling." pic.twitter.com/pjNEKdNgr1

— Squawk Box (@SquawkCNBC) April 12, 2023

Most people in the crypto industry still remember some of his most memorable quotes, such as the one from the 2014 Squawk Box interview, when he said that Bitcoin was “a mirage,” claiming that the idea that it has some huge intrinsic value is just a joke.

During another 2014 interview, he also said that he wouldn’t be surprised if Bitcoin disappeared over the course of the next 10 or 20 years. Furthermore, he noted that Bitcoin could not be considered a currency, given that it is “inevitably based on the value of the dollar.”

Warren Buffett’s stance on crypto has noticeably softened

His statement that Bitcoin was “probably rat poison squared” is likely the most famous one of all. This is why his shift to comparing cryptocurrencies to gambling was taken as a huge thing in the recent CNBC interview. During the interview, he was asked when Bitcoin will be revealed as not just rat poison squared. While he shrugged off the question, he started comparing crypto to gambling, stating:

That’s predicting when speculation will end or when the gambling instinct will go away.

After that, he briefly compared crypto to chain letters, before going back to his gambling analogy. This time, he said that Bitcoin users are essentially placing bets with their income. He compared discovering BTC investing to finding out that one has a roulette wheel in their house.

"#Bitcoin is a gambling token and it doesn't have any intrinsic value. But that doesn't stop people from wanting to play the roulette wheel," says Warren Buffett on #crypto. pic.twitter.com/6MQAiyrS5J

— Squawk Box (@SquawkCNBC) April 12, 2023

Buffett’s strict stance when it comes to investing has made his investment company massive, but even Berkshire Hathaway was not immune to losses during the recent banking crisis. A number of reports even noted that Bitcoin has severely outperformed Berkshire’s stock. The stock went up by 5.8%, while Bitcoin itself skyrocketed by 31.5% throughout March 2023.

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