“I don’t have one. I like to invest in things that have valuable output,” said Bill Gates.
While several billionaires such as Tesla CEO Elon Musk and Michael Saylor of MicroStrategy have thrown their weight on cryptocurrency, often tweeting in support of the virtual currency, Microsoft founder Bill Gates has come out as disbelieving in the potential of the new industry.
During an “Ask Me Anything” exchange on Reddit, Mr. Gates said that he does not own any cryptocurrency.
Mr Gates, the fourth richest person in the world, said he sees no value in crypto investments. He also expressed his views on several other topics, such as whether billionaires should pay more in taxes.
“I don’t have one. I like to invest in things that have valuable output,” Gates, 66, said.
He explained that the value of companies is based on how they make great products, not just how other people see them.
“The value of crypto is exactly what another decides someone else will pay for it, so not add something to society like other investments,” he added.
It is not the first time that the billionaire entrepreneur has expressed reservations about cryptocurrency.
But his stance now seems more relevant as the crypto industry is experiencing serious headwinds following the free fall seen in the TerraUSD “stablecoin” last week.
In the past month, Bitcoin, the world’s largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, has fallen 27 percent and second in line Ethereum 36 percent.
Several others, including top investor Warren Buffett, have also expressed concerns about cryptocurrency.
When asked whether billionaires should pay more taxes, Gates said going too high could lead to more people finding ways to evade taxes.
Another Reddit user asked him about the conspiracy theory that he wants to track people by implanting microchips in their heads through vaccines.
Mr Gates said the idea of chips in vaccines is “not right”. “Why would I want to know where people are? What would I do with the information?” he added.
