Warren Buffett, chairman and CEO of investment conglomerate Berkshire Hathaway, on Monday took a fresh dig at bitcoin.
On the heels of his annual letter to clients, the world’s most famous investor told CNBC on Monday that No. 1 digital currency has no unique value at all, referring to it as “a delusion.”
‘Bitcoin has no unique value at all, it doesn’t produce anything. It’s a delusion basically.’ Warren Buffett
Read: Opinion: Heed Warren Buffett’s warning: Bitcoin is pure FOMO
It isn’t the first time that the Oracle of Omaha has leveled excoriating criticism at bitcoin. In May 2018 he stirred up crypto aficionados when he labeled it “rat poison squared” and in January of that year he said, “I can say with almost certainty that they will come to a bad ending.”
Read: Warren Buffett says bitcoin will ‘come to a bad ending’
Monday’s comments come on the back of a volatile 48 hours for the best-known cryptocurrency. On Saturday the price of one bitcoin BTCUSD, +0.11% rose to a two-month high above $4,200, but gains were short-lived as the cryptocurrency dropped more than 10% on Sunday — its second-largest daily drop of the year.
“I’m really sorry it happens because people get there hopes up that something like that is going to change their lives.” Buffett said on Monday. “I’m sympathetic to people that own it,” he told CNBC.
Bitcoin is virtually unchanged on the year, but down more than 80% from its all-time high near $20,000 in December 2017.
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