Munger calls for a ban on cryptocurrencies, Musk hits back: 13 years ago you said Tesla was doomed to fail

At the online annual shareholders meeting assisted by Daily Journal, Charlie Munger, Warren Buffett's right-hand man and vice chairman of Berkshire Hathaway, said he hopes other countries will follow China's example and immediately ban Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies.

"I hope it is banned immediately, and I admire the Chinese for banning it," said Munger, 98.

Munger likened cryptocurrencies to "some kind of venereal disease" that he "disdained," and he was "proud" of having avoided them all these years.

Tesla CEO Musk immediately used his mocking skills. He responded on Twitter: "In 2009, I had lunch with Charlie Munger and he told the whole table all the ways Tesla could fail. This made me sad, but I told him that I agreed with all the reasons and that we might fail, but it was worth trying anyway."

Tesla is currently the world's most valuable automaker, with a market value of over $1 trillion at one point and $907.5 billion at press time. In 2010, Tesla became the second U.S. automaker to go public after Ford Motor Company, which had its IPO in 1956. Since its IPO, Tesla's stock has returned an astonishing 24,000%, making it a hot growth tech stock in the market. In the past six months, Tesla's stock price has risen 32%, and Musk has become one of the richest entrepreneurs in the world.

Munger has publicly commented on Musk before, telling The Australian in December that Musk was capable but overconfident, saying: "Some of the extreme success is going to come from people who try very extreme things because they are overconfident."

Munger has long been a public critic of cryptocurrencies, and in February last year he compared Bitcoin to a "lice," suggesting that cryptocurrencies were only useful for extortion, kidnapping and tax evasion.

According to BitPush terminal data, Bitcoin's current market value is nearly $800 billion. As of press time, it is trading at $40,822. In recent months, the crypto market has shown great volatility as investors prepare for the Federal Reserve's expected rate hike by selling risky assets.

Munger has worked closely with Warren Buffett for decades. According to Forbes, as of January 2021, Munger's net worth is estimated at $1.9 billion. Berkshire Hathaway, which he helms, is a major shareholder of Apple. Contrary to Munger's extreme attitude, the company has recently extended its investment tentacles into the crypto field. Bitpush previously reported that Berkshire Hathaway has invested $1 billion in Brazilian digital bank Nubank, whose investment arm allows users to invest money in exchange-traded funds (ETFs) related to cryptocurrencies.

As more banks offer services in new fintech products, Berkshire Hathaway's indirect exposure to crypto through investments in emerging banks has increased, and Munger may not be avoiding crypto - which he considers a "venereal disease" - as completely as imagined.