Bill Gates, a billionaire philanthropist, took aim at “expensive digital pictures of monkeys,” and expressed skepticism over NFTs as well as the cryptocurrency space. Bill Gates, Microsoft co-founder and billionaire, has rejected investments in cryptocurrencies. He also dismissed NFTs. He argued that speculation is the main driver of the market for digital assets.
Gates stated that as an asset class, it is 100% based upon the greater fool theory – that someone will pay more than me for it – during Tuesday’s TechCrunch Sessions Climate 2022 conference.
The greater fool theory is the belief that you can make money investing in overvalued assets and then selling them later for a profit because someone else will pay a higher price.
Gates also criticized people who spend large sums of money on NFTs. This cast doubt on their investment value.
Gates laughed, referring to the Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC), a collection of NFT images that has attracted billions of dollar and celebrity endorsements.
The floor price for Bored Ape Yacht club NFTs fell below $100,000 yesterday amid the ongoing crypto crash. It was hovering at an all time high of almost $429,000 (152 Ethereum) on April 29. According to NFT Floor, the current floor price of the collection is $83,000 (76 Ethereum).
Watching from the Outside
The price for Bitcoin, which is the largest cryptocurrency in the industry, dropped to just above $20,000 Wednesday. This represents a more than 55% loss since the beginning of the year.
While investors may be jittery about the latest market developments, Gates stated that he is not involved in cryptocurrency.
The billionaire entrepreneur said, “I’m neither long nor short any of these things.”
Microsoft co-founder Steve Ballmer has spoken out on cryptocurrency before.
Last month, Gates stated that he doesn’t own any crypto during an Ask Me-Anything session on Reddit. He prefers to invest in things that produce valuable output.
Companies are valued based on their ability to make great products. Crypto is only worth what another person decides to pay. It does not add value to society like other investments,” he stated at the time.
The philanthropist stated that he did not own any Bitcoin in February 2021. Unable to predict the future, he decided to “take a neutral position” on crypto.
