decrypt.co
Billionaire investor Warren Buffett does not own any Bitcoin. He just made that emphatically clear in a new interview with CNBC's Squark Box earlier today.
Responding to a question about the Bitcoin that he was supposedly presented during his dinner with Justin Sun, Buffett scoffed: "I don't have any Bitcoin."
After a brief—and remarkably awkward pause—the interviewer asked the question again. Buffett shut down the assumption once and for all, answering with a resounding "no."
"I do not own any cryptocurrency, I never will," Buffett declared.
Wow, @WarrenBuffett speaks like a real #Bitcoin maximalist. “I don’t own any cryptocurrency. I never will.” https://t.co/vEct6oqTQk
— Gabor Gurbacs (@gaborgurbacs) February 24, 2020
This appears in stark contrast to Sun's own claims. Shortly after the dinner with Buffett, Sun took to Facebook, revealing that he had presented the billionaire with one Bitcoin, and—in true Sun fashion—boasted of having pumped the market in the process.
"WarrenBuffett received his first #Bitcoin!" Sun wrote. "This lucky #Bitcoin is safely stored in his #Samsung Galaxy Fold. Since I gifted him this #Bitcoin, $BTC has increased 16%! Hope it continues to moon!"
So, what really happened? Well, it’s possible that Buffett did a Peter Schiff—and lost his keys.
“Given that Justin Sun claimed to give him TRON, he either threw away the private key or he’s too embarrassed to say he owns some TRON,” Larry Cermak, director of research at The Block, tweeted.
Crypto analyst Mati Greenspan, instead suggested the Oracle of Omaha may just be playing his cards close to his sleeve.
Looks like @WarrenBuffett is following the advice of @snowden very well.
"As a privacy advocate, I advice that if anyone asks if you're holding #bitcoin you should vehemently deny it." -Ed https://t.co/74FPS9jfMq
— Mati Greenspan (@MatiGreenspan) February 24, 2020
But he has made one thing clear.
Buffett still doesn't like Bitcoin
During the remainder of the interview, Buffett stuck to his rust-ridden guns, insisting—for the umpteenth time—that cryptocurrencies have "no value."
"Cryptocurrencies basically have no value, and they don't produce anything ... it doesn't reproduce, it can’t deliver you a check. It doesn't do anything," he said.
Buffett also suggested that Bitcoin's value derives from the greater fool theory—the idea that there will always be someone (i.e. a greater fool) willing to buy an asset for a higher price. He also dusted off the old story about Bitcoin's links to criminal use.
"Bitcoin has been used, I think, to move around a fair amount of money illegally," Buffett opined.
Wait until he hears about Deutsche Bank.