Chamath Palihapitiya, a self-professed “disciple” of investors Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger - has said that the two crypto skeptics are “all wrong” about Bitcoin (BTC), CNBC reports Wednesday, May 9.At the beginning of this month, Buffett called Bitcoin “rat poison squared,” and Munger said that investing in crypto was akin to “trading freshly harvested baby brains.” Earlier this year, Buffett had said that Bitcoin did not fit the requirements to be a currency.In today’s interview with CNBC, the founder and CEO of VC firm Social Capital Palihapitiya spoke about the investing advice given to him by Buffet - ”you define a circle of competence and you stay within in,” noting that “technology is not in his circle of competence.”In regards to Munger, Palihapitiya said that “I think it’s really unfair to not understand something, and then to disparage it,” adding that:
“I think they’re all exceptional at what they do.”
VC investor Palihapitiya - who has been in the Bitcoin market since 2012 - noted that the crypto markets then and now differ drastically, partly due to the long term HODLers’ view of Bitcoin as a “hedge to the existing financial structure”:
“I feel like i’m in two different universe, I need a passport to go between the Bitcoin world and my regular world.”
Palihapitiya’s portfolio is made up 99 percent non-risk and 1 percent risk holdings, with Bitcoin considered like gold as an asset class but placed in that 1 percent “risk off bucket” due to its lack of correlation with the traditional financial market:
“It’s really important not to forget what happened [in the 2008 economic crash]. Why would it not make sense to have a non-correlated hedge? This is about buying insurance.”
Cointelegraph published an Expert Take earlier this week about why Buffett and Wall Streetshould embrace both Bitcoin and blockchain technology in order not to fall behind.Some on Wall Street have already made moves towards the crypto sphere, as Goldman Sachsannounced last week that they would be offering Bitcoin contracts in the future, and the owner of the New York Stock Exchange reportedly showed an interest in letting customers buy and hold BTC.