It’s been known as the Woodstock of Capitalism, Coachella for Capitalists, and a complete lot worse too.
What’s for sure is that Berkshire Hathaway’s annual normal assembly is a must-watch occasion for market lovers.
Whereas our UK readers could have been catching a break over the general public vacation, the lengthy weekend noticed loads of fiery feedback from Berkshire’s storied leaders Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger, not least on the way forward for cryptocurrencies like bitcoin.
“Whether or not it goes up or down within the subsequent yr, or 5 or 10 years, I don’t know. However the one factor I’m fairly certain of is that it doesn’t produce something,” Buffett mentioned.
What’s your entire world’s stash of bitcoin price? Not even $25, in keeping with the Oracle of Omaha.
To not be outdone, Munger added: “In my life, I try to keep away from issues which are silly, evil and make me look dangerous compared to any person else… and bitcoin does all three.”
Robinhood — which owed a big a part of its lockdown-induced success to bumper crypto trading volumes — additionally got here in for one more beating from Munger.
God is “getting simply”, he said, because the day buying and selling platform continues to lose prospects and report stalling income.
The continued criticism of bitcoin marks the newest salvo in a confrontation between the Berkshire bosses and crypto lovers like Peter Thiel.
Final month, the billionaire entrepreneur branded Buffett a high “enemy” of bitcoin and a part of a “finance gerontocracy” that has held again the cryptocurrency’s adoption — a membership that additionally consists of Jamie Dimon, chief govt of JPMorgan, and Larry Fink, chief govt of BlackRock.
Thiel’s fellow crypto followers had been fast to hit again once more after the Berkshire AGM.
“They’re not precisely probably the most technology-forward buyers,” mentioned Eric Chen, co-founder and chief govt at Injective Labs. “As a matter of truth, I feel that goes extra in the direction of the affirmation that the area is basically disrupting one thing.”
David Tawil, president and co-founder of cryptoasset fund ProChain Capital, famous that it was “many years earlier than [Berkshire] determined to go forward and spend money on Apple”.
In case you missed any of the motion from the occasion, see under for probably the most talked-about themes.
We’ve additionally bought a roundup of what you must know as crypto faces a difficult path forward — down some 13% over the yr so far, huge names resembling Starling Financial institution’s Anne Boden are among the many newest to sound a sceptical observe on bitcoin’s fortunes in current days.
Regulators internationally are additionally stepping up their scrutiny of the sector.
Final week, Commodity Futures Buying and selling Fee chair Rostin Behnam instructed an viewers on the Metropolis Week 2022 convention that giving corporations permission to clear crypto derivatives directly was not a given.
“It may not sound like an enormous challenge, however it’s a vital challenge. It’s actually proposing and presenting a really totally different market construction mannequin that has some alternative, however definitely some danger,” mentioned Behnam.
In the meantime, the US Labor Division mentioned it has “grave considerations” about Fidelity’s bitcoin pension plan, placing a possible spanner within the works for corporations trying to develop crypto’s vary within the retirement area.
All the pieces you must know from Berkshire’s famed AGM
Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger hit out at bitcoin at Berkshire’s AGM but crypto fans are unmoved
Why Warren Buffett says markets are a ‘gambling parlour’
Berkshire Hathaway’s Charlie Munger hits out at Robinhood again
Warren Buffett Is Still Setting Berkshire’s Direction. For How Much Longer? (The Wall Road Journal)
And on crypto’s present troubles
The Fed isn’t going to save bitcoin’s bear market
Too many crypto transactions are fraudulent, Starling CEO Anne Boden warns
US Labor Department has ‘grave concerns’ about Fidelity’s bitcoin pension plan
The SEC is beefing up crypto enforcement. Its target is basically everything (Barron’s)
The new way to get a tax break: NFT and crypto donations (The Wall Road Journal)
To contact the creator of this story with suggestions or information, e-mail Justin Cash