On May 14, the annual meeting of shareholders of the Berkshire Hathaway holding, which is controlled by American billionaire Warren Buffett, was held. The event was remembered for harsh criticism of bitcoin - the vice president of the company, billionaire Charles Munger admitted that the success of the first cryptocurrency infuriates him.
When Bitcoin was discussed at the meeting, Warren Buffett declined to comment. Previously, he compared his cryptocurrency to rat poison and argued that the asset has no real value.
“I knew there would be a question about bitcoin or about cryptocurrencies in general. I see how politicians all the time shy away from answering such questions <...> Honestly, I will do the same today, ”Buffett said.
But his longtime business partner, 97-year-old Charles Munger, did not hold back and immediately stated that he was annoyed by the success of Bitcoin.
“I do not welcome the currency that kidnappers, extortionists and so on are happy to use. I also don't like to shell out a few billions of extra dollars to someone who has just invented a new financial product. I think I should humbly declare that this damned creature is just disgusting and contrary to the interests of humanity, ”said Munger.
Bitcoin began to rally with the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, when the oil crisis and market crash led investors to turn to cryptocurrency as a means of preserving capital. On April 14, the bitcoin rate for the first time exceeded $ 64,000. After that, the market collapsed several times, and the value of the first cryptocurrency fell below $ 50,000. In recent days, the coin again tends to the $ 60,000 mark and is now trading at $ 56,600.
On the growth of bitcoin, miners were able to enrich themselves, that is, people who mine cryptocurrency using computing power. In March, they earned a record $ 1.75 billion, and in April, slightly less - $ 1.7 billion. At the same time, 14.5%, or $ 247 million, of April revenue fell on transaction fees. This is the highest percentage since January 2018.
On April 22, the average transaction fee on the Bitcoin network reached $ 62.7. This happened amid problems with power supply in the Chinese province of Xinjiang, due to which mining farms were subsequently shut down in the region. Previously, Microsoft founder Bill Gates spoke with criticism Bitcoins, accusing cryptocurrency too high power consumption and causing environmental harm