Bill Gates, the second richest person in the world with an estimated net worth of $ 90 billion, said in an interview with CNBC that he would short-circuit if he could because it's worthless.
"I run it if there's an easy way to do it, as an asset class you do not produce anything, so you should not expect it to increase," he said. "It's a bit of a pure type of investment."
This is not the first time that Bill Gates criticizes cryptocurrences. In fact, in a previous interview, he had a very naive view that bitcoin is directly responsible for deaths because they are used to buy drugs.
He said:
"Cryptocurrencies are currently used to buy fentanyl and other drugs. It is therefore a rare technology that has caused deaths quite directly.
Bill Gates joined the other wealthy Wall Street nabards who continually criticize Cryptocurrency. Last week, Warren Buffet called Bitcoin "rat-poison squared" and his partner Charlie Munger said commercial cryptocurrencies are like commercial feces.
Although there are many bitcoins, few of those who criticized the asset in public have demonstrated their confidence in their bearish outlook by opening a short position on bitcoin.
Tyler Winklevoss, the founder of the Gemini Cryptocurrency Exchange tweeted to Bill Gates pointing out that it is easy to bypass bitcoin and that he should put his money where his mouth is.
He tweeted:
"Dear @BillGates there is an easy way to bypass Bitcoin.You can short #XBT, the @CBOE Bitcoin (USD) futures, and put your money where your mouth is!"
This is not the first time he has dared someone to do bitcoin. Before Bill Gates, he challenged Jamie Dimon, CEO of JPMorgan Chase, to cut short Bitcoin when he said that Bitcoin was a fraud. Since then, Jamie Dimon has expressed regret to make this statement but has not softened in favor of cryptocurrencies.
The Winklevoss twins have been very critical of Bitcoin bears. While speaking to CNBC at a summit, the twins said that the negativity that these Wall Street personalities are showing is a "failure of imagination" and that they are too old to understand. For them, critics of Bitcoin are a "privileged minority" who has easy access to money and bank accounts.
It is unclear whether Bill Gates would be short Bitcoin since he did not respond to Winklevoss' offer on Twitter. Winklevoss, however, is unlikely to hold his breath.