Billionaire Dismisses Digital Assets at Climate Conference
Bill Gates has once again criticised cryptocurrency, including non-fungible tokens (NFTs), labelling them as “shams” driven by the “greater-fool theory.” Speaking at a climate conference in Berkeley, California, on June 14, Gates sarcastically remarked that “expensive digital images of monkeys” are unlikely to contribute positively to the world. He added that he holds no positions in the asset class, neither long nor short.
This isn’t the first time Gates has voiced scepticism about digital assets. Last year, he clashed with Elon Musk over the risks Bitcoin posed to retail investors and the environmental concerns surrounding the coin’s mining process. At the conference, Gates, who founded Breakthrough Energy Ventures in 2015, a climate-focused fund, also discussed the challenge of attracting Silicon Valley engineers to industries like chemicals and steel, which need to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions.
The comments come at a time when Bitcoin has experienced significant losses, dropping more than 15% on Monday and another 5.4% on Tuesday, as part of a broader downturn in the cryptocurrency market. This selloff has been driven by higher-than-expected US inflation and the suspension of withdrawals by the lending platform Celsius. Even popular NFT collections, such as the Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC), are facing significant declines.
Gates also took the opportunity to highlight the digital banking initiatives supported by his philanthropic foundations, claiming they are “hundreds of times more efficient” than cryptocurrencies in their potential to drive positive change. Michael Bloomberg, founder of Bloomberg LP, is also a backer of Breakthrough Energy Ventures.
