Microsoft co-founder and billionaire entrepreneur Bill Gates is changing his tune on Bitcoin.
In a new interview, Gates tells CNBC’s Squawkbox that he is no longer bearish on Bitcoin, and now has a firmly neutral attitude towards the flagship cryptocurrency.
“I don’t own Bitcoin. I’m not short Bitcoin, so I’ve taken a neutral view. I do think moving money into a more digital form and getting transaction costs down – that’s something the Gates foundation does in developing countries…”
In May of 2018, the tech titan told CNBC that if he could short Bitcoin, he would, asserting that the asset was being bought up by gullible investors and served no purpose.
“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.”
Gates also disclosed to CNBC that when he was given some BTC for his birthday, he ended up selling it just a couple years down the road.
As of writing, Bitcoin is trading above $51,000 and if Gates had held his gifted Bitcoin, even if it was purchased at the 2018 top, he would have more than doubled his money.
Now, the billionaire investor says he has no prediction regarding Bitcoin’s next price movements.
“Bitcoin can go up and down just based on the mania or whatever the views are and I don’t have a way of predicting how that will progress.”
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