Bill Gates says that crypto and NFTs are based on “bigger fool theory”

Bill Gates is not a fan of cryptocurrencies or non-fungible tokens.

In a speech at a TechCrunch talk on climate change on Tuesday, billionaire Microsoft co-founder described the phenomenon as “100% based on bigger fool theory”, referring to the idea that overvalued assets will go up in price when there are enough investors. willing. to pay more for them.

Gates joked that “expensive digital images of monkeys”[ads1]; would “greatly improve the world,” referring to the much-hyped Bored Monkey Yacht Club NFT collection.

NFTs are tokens that cannot be exchanged for each other. They are often referred to as a way to prove ownership of digital assets such as art or sports collectibles. But critics see them as hypocritical and potentially harmful to the environment given the power of cryptocurrencies. Many NFTs are built on the network behind the ethereum, the second largest token.

“I’m used to asset classes … as a farm where they have production, or as a company where they make products,” Gates said.

As for crypto, “I’m not involved,” Gates added. “I’m not tall or short any of those things.”

Cryptocurrencies fell sharply this week after Celsius, a cryptocurrency lending company, stopped all bank withdrawals. The debacle has led to fears of a looming insolvency event for Celsius – and possible consequences for other parts of the crypto market. Celsius, for his part, says that it “works around the clock for our society”.

The battered crypto world is already licking its wounds after the collapse of UST – a so-called “stablecoin” that was meant to be worth $ 1 – and luna, the sister token. At its peak, both cryptocurrencies were worth a total of $ 60 billion.

Bitcoin was last traded at $ 21,107 on Wednesday, down 7% in the last 24 hours. The world’s largest cryptocurrency has erased more than half of its value since the start of 2022.

SEE: What you should know before investing in crypto