Munger said China was “wiser” for banning crypto trading and that the US’ failure to act is like letting a “bad genie out of the bottle.”
Charlie Munger, the Vice Chairman of Berkshire Hathaway says the US government made a “huge mistake” in not banning cryptocurrency trading, noting that the “bad genie” got out of the bottle.
The Daily Journal Chairman made the remarks during an interview with Yahoo Finance on Wednesday.
In the wide-ranging interview, Munger told Yahoo Finance’s Andy Serwer that Bitcoin, despite its massive success over the years and growing mainstream acceptance, remains the ideal currency for extortion and racketeering among other negative things.
The veteran investor, who has remained critical of Bitcoin and crypto trading, believes the government should have cracked down on the sector.
"I don't think it's good that our country is going crazy over bitcoin and its ilk," he adds.
He noted that he doesn’t understand why a “civilized government” would want to allow Bitcoin to come into the payment system, given its “run by a bunch of people who want to get rich quick for doing very little for civilization?”
In his opinion, China was “wiser” than the US for banning crypto trading.
Asked about his predictions on what he thinks is going to happen regarding crypto regulation in the US, Munger was even more critical.
“You let a bad genie out of a bottle, God knows what happens. I think it was a huge mistake to allow it at all,” he said.
The Berkshire vice-Chair also criticized regulators who join crypto firms after they exit their government jobs, noting that such moves make it difficult for authorities to come up with “wise decisions about something like Bitcoin.”
Munger’s comments mirror those of Warren Buffet, the billionaire investor and Chairman of Berkshire Hathaway. Buffet has previously criticized Bitcoin as ‘rat poison squared.”
The remarks also come as the US government looks to regulate the crypto sector, but with the Fed and the US Securities Exchange Commission noting in 2021 that they were not considering a ban on crypto.
Apart from China, countries that have come close to banning crypto trading are Russia and India. Both have however not taken the Chinese route yet.