“I wish they’d never been invented.” Berkshire Hathaway’s Charlie Munger ripped into cryptocurrencies and praised China’s regulation of them during an appearance at a conference in Sydney, Australia. He also said stock valuations are “ even crazier " now than the go-go 1990s.
Do you think it’s likely, or even possible, that the US will regulate the way China has?
The “Old Guard” hates anything new especially when it interrupts their old ways of doing things. The world is changing and its changing fast it no one knows what’s going to happen with crypto buts it’s here to stay in some capacity and many of the Old Guard are realizing it.
But crypto is the wild west for now.
I don’t think the US will regulate unless the government ties it to terrorism funding. In China, crypto was banned as it was being used to get around currency controls.
I think Canada may introduce a crypto C$ just as China has introduced a crypto Yan.
I believe that Munger was referring to “new” currencies, and not a crypto Canadian $ or cryto Yuan which are a digital controls of the M1 money supply.
I do think Munger is right as to crypto being a new currency i.e. no assets behind it (lets call it New Money) .
I equate Bitcoin to Art. The only value it has is what someone will pay for it. It has no ability to produce anything and it has no assets behind it and can be banned by governments.
A fiat currency, while inflationary, does have the assets of the state including partial gold reserve for some. New Money only has the belief of people and it is the belief that drives it value.
Could it become a reserve currency? It would be the first time a ‘concept’ with no use in producing something (gold, silver) nor any asset backing it (government, gold, silver) becomes a currency that is not a bubble (tulip bulbs, sea shells)