Bill Gates once again confirms that he is not a fan of bitcoin and digital assets in general, pointing out that crypto currencies are a novelty, but people could live without it.
In an interview with The Wall Street Journal, the billionaire Microsoft co-founder and now philanthropist, when asked what technological innovation people could live without, replied:
“The way crypto currencies work today leaves room for some criminal activity. It would be good to get rid of them,” he said.
However, during a televised interview with CNBC, Gates took a more moderate stance, calling his view of bitcoin “neutral.”
“I do not have bitcoin, nor am I short on bitcoin, so I have a neutral view“, he said in an interview with CNBC’s “Sqawk Box.”
“I think transferring money to a more digital form and reducing transaction costs is something the Gates Foundation does in developing countries,” he added.
“Bitcoin can rise and fall just because of the (investment) madness or depending on the trends and I have no way of predicting how it will move,” he added.
It is worth saying that this is not the first time Gates has talked about bitcoin and crypto currencies, but it seems that his view has become less negative over time. In 2018, in an interview with CNBC, he said that he would bet against bitcoin if he could.
“As an asset category, it produces nothing and therefore should not be expected to rise. It is a typical type of investment based on the theory of the most foolish,” he told CNBC at the time.
However, that just one day after Gates’ comments on bitcoin, and in the wake of more and more institutional investors backing crypto currencies, bitcoin made a new high leap, with its market capitalisation exceeding $1 trillion for the first time in its history.
