Bill Gates: Cryptocurrencies And NFTs Are Based On ‘Biggest Fool’ Theory

Billionaire Microsoft founder Bill Gates has returned to attack digital assets. This time, he claimed that both cryptocurrencies and non-fungible tokens, NFTs, are based on the “biggest fool theory”.

The statements were made during his participation in a TechCrunch talk on climate change on Tuesday (14).

At the time, Gates described the crypto phenomenon as “100% based on the theory of the greatest fool”. According to this theory, overvalued assets will rise in price when there are “foolish” investors willing to pay more for them.

So, when the market “fools” run out, the prices of these assets fall and many investors are left with the overpriced assets that no one else wants to buy.

Bill Gates criticizes digital assets again

Bill Gates sarcastically commented that people who spend a fortune on “digital images of monkey faces” would be able to “immensely improve the world”.

Naturally, he was referring to the popular collection of NFTs built on the ETH Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) blockchain, whose tokens represent different caricatures of monkeys.

“I’m used to asset classes… like a farm where there is a production, or else a company, where products are made,” Gates said.

Meanwhile, on cryptocurrencies in general, he reaffirmed that he does not invest in this asset class:

“I’m not involved in this,” Gates added. “I am neither long nor short on any of these things.”

Why Bill Gates Doesn’t Like Cryptocurrencies?

This is not, however, the first time that Bill Gates has criticized digital assets. A month ago, as CriptoFácil reported, he revealed why he does not have cryptocurrencies.

According to Gates, he usually only invests in things with “valuable output”, arguing that digital assets have no real value. After all, they do not generate valuable products as companies do. In other words, for Gates, cryptocurrencies are nothing more than a product of speculation:

“I like to invest in things that have a valuable result. The value of companies is based on how they make great products. The value of cryptocurrency is just what someone else decides that someone else will pay for it. Thus, it does not add value to society like other investments,” he said.

Companies and celebrities invest in NFTs

Although the founder of Microsoft rejects NFTs, there are many other prominent people and companies interested in these assets.

Madonna, Neymar, Justin Bieber and Serena Williams, for example, spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to buy some NFTs.

Likewise, companies like Lacoste, Starbucks, Netflix, eBay and several others have already released their own collections of NFTs.