Criticism from big names is nothing new for Bitcoin, and after Jamie Dimon and Warren Buffet, Bill Gates was added to that list after his recent appearance on CNBC’s Squawk Box.
"As an asset class, you're not producing anything and so you shouldn't expect it to go up. It's kind of a pure 'greater fool theory' type of investment...I would short it if there was an easy way to do it," he said on the show.
Now it seems the Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) co-founder may have to follow up on that, after Tyler Winklevoss, the founder of a prominent crypto exchange, Gemini, has challenged Bill Gates to short Bitcoin and put his money where his mouth is.
The Winklevoss twin cited the Bitcoin futures contract offered by CBOE as an easy way to short Bitcoin.
https://twitter.com/tylerwinklevoss/status/993562310567452673
CBOE started offering Bitcoin futures contracts in December last year, when BTC price was around the $20,000 mark. However, shortly afterward the world’s largest cryptocurrency lost value and recently tested lows around $6,600.
Prior to Bitcoin futures being offered, it is believed that most investors went long on BTC, banking on the price rising, but futures allowed shorters to enter the market in droves, resulting in the recent decline.
That being said, Bitcoin still has a lot of support and the Winklevoss twins, in particular, are bullish on it, comparing the digital currency to gold.
Yesterday we reported on Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE:BRKa) vice chairman Charlie Munger, who also criticized Bitcoin rather harshly, likening its trading to that of ‘freshly harvested baby brains’:
“Suppose you could make a lot of money trading freshly harvested baby brains. Would you do it? To me Bitcoin is almost as bad.”
“I regard the whole thing as a combination of dementia and immorality,” he added. “I think the people pushing it are a disgrace. There ought to be some things that are beneath you, that you just don’t do, and this is one.”
This article appeared first on Cryptovest