Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates confirmed he is not involved with digital currencies and non-fungible tokens. Moreover, the billionaire joked about the world’s most traded NFT collection, Bored Apes Yacht Club (BAYC), calling it the one “based on a greater fool theory.”
In a far-ranging conversation at Climate Conference 2022, Bill Gates touched on the topic of crypto and NFTs as an innovative asset class. He then sarcastically noted that “expensive digital images of monkeys are gonna improve the world immensely,” referring to the iconic NFT collection, Bored Apes, that dozens of celebrities around the world have poured their millions into.
Bill Gates tells us what he really thinks of Bored Apes at #TCClimate: pic.twitter.com/vBc8BaaTup
— TechCrunch (@TechCrunch) June 14, 2022
The famous business magnate further hinted that his investment preferences continue to be the ones “like a farm where they have output, or like a company where they make products.”
Sponsored
When speaking about cryptocurrencies, Gates confirmed that he is not involved with them and has no long or short orders opened. Asset classes like crypto or NFTs are “100 percent based on sort of Greater Fool Theory, that somebody is gonna pay more for it than I do,” Microsoft co-founder said.
In finance, the Greater Fool Theory suggests that in times of a market bubble, one can make money by purchasing overvalued assets and selling them for a higher price later. According to it, there will always be a bigger fool ready to pay more for the overvalued asset, without regard for its fundamental value.
In addition to that, the Microsoft founder critically addressed the anonymity of cryptocurrencies, noting that the feature might easily be exploited to avoid taxes or to “kidnap fees.” Actually, this is not the first time that Bill Gates has criticized the anonymous nature of digital currencies.
Neither an Investor, Nor An Opponent
Earlier this year, the billionaire entrepreneur admitted to not being a crypto investor and even warned others to be cautious when investing in digital assets simply because they are being hyped or endorsed by influencers like Elon Musk.
Sponsored
According to Gates, Musk has enough in his account to play and take a risk, while those who have less money than Tesla’s CEO, “should probably watch out” for cryptos.
On the other hand, Bill Gates said cryptocurrencies were a positive innovation, with a lot of potential to facilitate faster and cheaper payments to the citizens of developing countries.
Open for Metaverse
The co-founder of Microsoft is even more positive though on the future of metaverse. The billionaire shared the belief last December that all our virtual meetings will gradually migrate from 2D camera image grids to the 3D metaverse with digital avatars within the upcoming 2 or 3 years.
He was more skeptical about the speed of the metaverse meeting’s adoption. Gates suggested that the process still would be slow, as many users still lack the tools, like virtual reality goggles, to fully experience the metaverse.
At the beginning of 2022, Microsoft announced the $68.7 billion acquisition of an American video game holding company, Activision Blizzard, which is expected to accelerate the company’s involvement in the metaverse.
Later in April, the company hinted, that its Xbox gaming division would explore the technologies of digital currencies and non-fungible tokens (NFTs).
