Microsoft Corp (NASDAQ: NASDAQ:MSFT) co-founder Bill Gates has launched a barge of criticism against cryptocurrencies and non fungible tokens (NFTs) on Tuesday.
What Happened: The former Microsoft executive said cryptocurrency projects like NFTs were shams “based on the greater fool theory” at a climate conference hosted by the publication TechCrunch, reported Bloomberg.
Gates did not hold back on the sarcasm and said, “Obviously, expensive digital images of monkeys are going to improve the world immensely.”
The philanthropist said he’s neither long nor short on digital assets, according to Bloomberg.
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Why It Matters: Gates said in March that he doesn’t own any cryptocurrency as he prefers investments in things that have a “valuable output.”
In 2021, Gates had warned people against investing in cryptocurrencies if they had less money than Tesla Inc (NASDAQ: TSLA) CEO Elon Musk. He said at the time that he wasn’t “bullish” on Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC).
Bitcoin has plunged 55.49% in value since 2022 began, while the second-largest cryptocurrency by market cap, Ethereum (CRYPTO: ETH), has sunk 58.6% in worth in a similar time frame.
Price Action: BTC and ETH traded 1.7% and 2.3% lower respectively at $22,111.72 and $1,181.69 over 24 hours, according to data from Benzinga Pro.
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