Things were looking up for Bitcoin holders over the weekend, with the price of the cryptocurrency coming agonisingly close to breaking the $10,000 barrier on both Saturday and Sunday.
However, it has since fallen from around $9800 on Sunday to just under $9300 at the time of publication on Tuesday, according to Coinbase. And big-name billionaires might have had a part to play.
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Over the weekend, Berkshire Hathaway CEO Warren Buffett described Bitcoin as “probably rat poison squared”, CNBC reports.
He followed that up on Monday, adding that “the asset itself is creating nothing” and that “when you’re buying nonproductive assets, all you’re counting on is the next person is going to pay you more because they’re even more excited about another next person coming along”.
He has previously said that cryptocurrencies “definitely will come to a bad ending”.
Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, meanwhile, kicked off the week by telling CNBC that he was also sceptical about Bitcoin.
Related: Bitcoin price rise expected
“As an asset class, you’re not producing anything and so you shouldn’t expect it to go up,” he said. “It’s kind of a pure ‘greater fool theory’ type of investment. I would short it if there was an easy way to do it.”
Before Monday, the cryptocurrency had been flying high, possibly as a direct consequence of Reddit revealing that it plans to reinstate Bitcoin as a payment method for gold membership.
Are you still a Bitcoin believer? Or have you moved onto other digital currencies? Share your thoughts @TrustedReviews.
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Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
