Bill Gates, co-founder of Microsoft, has a negative view of cryptocurrencies, stating that they are “of no use at all.”
Gates emphasized this point during an interview with The New York Times (NYT) ahead of the release of his autobiography Source Code: My Beginnings. Gates is turning 70 this year, and his memoir reflects on his journey from childhood to the present. This book is the first volume in a planned trilogy of autobiographies.
When asked about the potential utility of cryptocurrencies, Gates responded critically, suggesting that “there are people with high I.Q.s who have fooled themselves on that one.” He stated that there is no such thing as a billionaire club and added that there is no unified opinion among billionaires. According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, he ranks eighth among the world’s wealthiest individuals with an estimated net worth of $165 billion.
This is not the first time Gates has criticized cryptocurrency. In 2022, at a climate change conference in Berkeley, California, he pointed out that cryptocurrency projects like NFTs are “100% based on greater fool theory.”
The “greater-fool theory” refers to investing in overvalued assets with the expectation that a “greater fool” will pay an even higher price despite knowing the asset’s value is significantly lower.
Gates also raised concerns about the substantial energy consumption associated with mining and trading Bitcoin and warned of its potential negative impact on climate change.
These views have put Gates at odds with figures like Tesla CEO Elon Musk. Gates cautioned that just because Musk and Tesla are investing in Bitcoin, regular investors should not follow suit. He advised that someone with less wealth than Musk should be cautious with such investments.
Source Code: My Beginnings is the first book in Gates’ autobiography series. This year, he turned 70 and wrote a book reflecting on his childhood life.
The New York Times noted that “Bill Gates Isn’t Like Those Other Tech Billionaires.” In a separate interview with The Times of London, Gates revealed that his divorce from Melinda French Gates was the biggest regret of his life.
