Bitcoin prices dropped Monday following criticism from some of the world’s most well-known billionaire investors.
Bitcoin prices dropped Monday following criticism from some of the investment world’s best-known billionaires.
The cryptocurrency hit a low of $9,188.66 Monday after climbing above $9,900 over the weekend, according to CoinDesk. Bitcoin has recovered roughly 40 percent from the lows around $6,700 last month but has been unable to break the $10,000 level.
Berkshire Hathaway Chairman and CEO Warren Buffett piled on his recent bitcoin criticism Monday and told CNBC the « asset itself is creating nothing. »
« When you’re buying nonproductive assets, all you’re counting on is the next person is going to pay you more because they’re even more excited about another next person coming along, » he said on CNBC’s » Squawk Box » from Omaha, following Berkshire’s annual shareholder meeting.
Over the weekend, Buffett had called bitcoin » probably rat poison squared, » while Berkshire Chairman Charlie Munger said during the annual meeting that trading in cryptocurrencies is « just dementia. »
Microsoft Co-founder Bill Gates told CNBC in the same interview Monday that he would bet against bitcoin if he could.
« As an asset class, you’re not producing anything and so you shouldn’t expect it to go up. It’s kind of a pure ‘greater fool theory’ type of investment, » Gates said. « I would short it if there was an easy way to do it. »
Speculation that the U. S. Securities and Exchange Commission and Commodity Futures Trading Commission are meeting Monday could also be having a negative pull on prices.
« I think that Buffett and Gates comments could be having an effect but I think the bigger factor at play today is regulatory, » said Spencer Bogart, partner at Blockchain Capital. « Some market participants are concerned the SEC will issue negative commentary coming out of a hearing on Monday. »
The Wall Street Journal reported last week that a group of regulators including senior SEC and CFTC officials are scheduled to discuss whether securities laws should apply to cryptocurrencies including ether, the second-largest cryptocurrency.
« While Bitcoin is not under direct scrutiny, the ramifications of this meeting could affect the entire global crypto market, » said Joe DiPasquale, CEO of BitBull Capital. « The hesitation we are seeing right now could easily be broken and lead to a fresh rally, should a favorable tone be set by officials in attendance. »
Other cryptocurrencies were also trading lower Monday. Ether fell roughly 7 percent, trading near $731 as of 12:40 pm ET, according to CoinDesk. Ripple and litecoin both fell roughly 5 percent.
