Bitcoin in mind? BEWARE! Invoking Elon Musk, this is what the legendary Bill Gates said

Legendary co-founder of Microsoft, Bill Gates, has voiced his opinion on Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies by saying that it is a risky investment for anyone who does not have as much money as the Tesla CEO Elon Musk. The opinion comes from the Microsoft co-founder as Musk has been a vocal supporter of cryptocurrencies and has even caused massive surges in crypto prices just by tweeting about them. The popularity of cryptocurrencies as an investment choice among people has also risen considerably in recent times with the number of blockchain wallet users estimated to be around 80 million by Statista. Observing the trend, Gates warned everyone with less money than Elon Musk that crypto investment can be very risky given its high volatility. Notably, he also has said that personally, he was not too enamoured of Bitcoin either.

The interview was with Bloomberg in 2021 where he was asked about his opinion on the trend of rising Bitcoin and other cryptocurrency investments where Gates famously said “I’m not bullish on Bitcoin”. Upon being highlighted how Tesla could make more money from its Bitcoin investment compared to profits on its Electric Vehicles (EVs) in the calendar year, Gates replied, “Elon has tons of money and he's very sophisticated so I don't worry that his Bitcoin will randomly go up or down. I do think people get bought into these manias who may not have as much money to spare so I'm not bullish on Bitcoin. My thought would be if you have less money than Elon, you should probably watch out."

Bill Gates is not Bullish on Bitcoin

Gates also spoke on how his stance is not anti digital currency, just against cryptocurrencies. Crypto space is also not very transparent and faces issues of money laundering and terrorism funding. Many of these issues are persistent in Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.

“Bitcoin happens to use a lot of energy. It happens to promote anonymous transactions which are not reversible. The Gates Foundation does a lot in terms of digital currency, but in those cases you do get to see who is making the transactions,” he added.

The volatility of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies is also a concern. In the past, one tweet of Elon Musk referencing Dogecoin saw a surge of more than 60 per cent. In another instance, in 2021, Elon Musk tweeted ‘#Bitcoin’ followed by a broken heart emoji and picture of a couple breaking up and instantly, Bitcoin fell by seven per cent. These incidents have even led to crypto investors requesting the billionaire CEO to not tweet about cryptocurrencies so his fans would not follow his advice and cause extreme volatility in the digital currency value.