There are plenty of people out there who don’t like bitcoin. No matter how strong the cryptocurrency becomes, no matter how big it gets or how many people use it, there will always be individuals who don’t believe in the asset’s abilities. As it turns out, one of those people is Bill Gates, the co-founder of tech giant Microsoft.
Bill Gates Isn’t Crazy About BTC
While Gates is not necessarily anti-crypto, he recently gave an interview discussing how risky it was, and he commented that unless you’re super rich – like Elon Musk – you probably shouldn’t be giving bitcoin much attention. He says that there’s a huge frenzy over bitcoin, and that many people are simply convinced too easily that the coin is worth something.
Gates commented:
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 brought into these manias who may not have as much money to spare, so I’m not bullish on bitcoin… If you have less money than Elon, you should probably watch out.
Musk is presently the world’s richest person. He is valued at more than $230 billion, which means he’s got a lot of money to play around with. If he loses a couple million here or there, it’s probably not a big loss in his eyes.
He’s also been a huge proponent of bitcoin. Last year, he went so far as to temporarily allow bitcoin users to purchase Tesla vehicles with the cryptocurrency, though this decision was later rescinded due to mining concerns. However, Musk does allow users of Dogecoin to purchase Tesla merchandise with the currency. While you may not be able to buy a car yet, hats and other items with the Tesla brand on them can go for Doge.
Gates is also very worried about the lack of regulation in the crypto space. He says that bitcoin and its digital cousins are extremely volatile, which puts investors at great risk. He also has concerns about how specific crypto wallets and addresses are. Once money is sent, it cannot be sent back. In other words, transactions are irreversible… Even if mistakes are made.
He said:
[Bitcoin] happens to promote anonymous transactions. They’re not reversible transactions.
Don’t Invest What You Can’t Afford to Lose
Overall, he doesn’t think bitcoin or related altcoins present huge threats to the world, though he’s not convinced healthy, everyday traders have a clear and truthful vision of the currency. Joining Gates is Douglas Boneparth, a certified financial planner who warns his customers that they shouldn’t allocate more than what they can afford to lose to bitcoin. He mentioned:
Be very careful about how much you allocate and understand what you can tolerate, because if 80 percent of your net worth is tied to bitcoin and it goes down 30 percent, that’s rough.
Source: https://www.livebitcoinnews.com/bill-gates-is-no-bitcoin-fan/