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There is no escaping the Bitcoin question in 2021. Bill Gates chooses not to invest in BTC, but to remain neutral. On the other hand, his foundation does not prohibit the use of digital currencies.
So, Bitcoin or not? It is currently difficult for wealthy people and bosses to escape the question of Bitcoin. Dara Khosrowshahi has already done so, as has her counterpart at Microsoft.
Now it is the turn of Bill Gates, the current 4th largest fortune in the world, to give his opinion on cryptocurrencies. Opinion, or rather absence of opinion in the case of Microsoft’s founder?
“I don’t own Bitcoin, I’m not short on Bitcoin. So I’ve taken a neutral point of view,” says the billionaire, now a philanthropist. And if Bill Gates owned a Bitcoin, a birthday present, it is no longer in his possession.
On CNBC, the former tech boss claims to be neutral. However, in an interview for the Wall Street Journal, he makes no secret of his lack of interest in cryptocurrencies. So the world can do without this innovation, he considers.
“The way cryptocurrencies work today allows certain criminal activities. It would be a good idea to get rid of it,” says Gates. “I probably should have talked about biological weapons. It’s a very bad thing,” he insists.
Gates is no stranger to cryptocurrencies and BTC. He would probably be more inclined to go for central bank digital currencies, or even private but regulated currencies.
“I think transferring money in a more digital form and reducing transaction costs is something the Gates Foundation is doing in developing countries,” he told CNBC.
It makes sense to him. But Bitcoin and its speculative applications are far from delighting him. Bill Gates is neutral, but in some of his statements he is not. Yet the billionaire seems to take into account the institutionalization of Bitcoin.
“Bitcoin can go up and down just based on mania or opinion, and I have no way of predicting how that will evolve,” says the former Microsoft boss. In the past, however, his views were more categorical.
“As an asset class, you don’t produce anything, so you can’t expect it to increase”, Gates said in 2018. As for Bitcoin and ICOs, he called them “crazy and speculative” investments. This madness, however, has nowadays a serious air of respectability in the world of finance.