Bill Gates, an American business magnate, has slammed the NFT frenzy that has swept the internet, expressing doubts about NFTs and the cryptocurrency market.
Bill Gates, a co-founder of Microsoft, has dismissed cryptocurrency and NFT investments, claiming that the digital asset market is mostly driven by speculation.
The Microsoft co-founder stated Tuesday at a TechCrunch conference that those digital asset trends are “100% based on greater fool theory,” referring to the idea that investors can profit from worthless or inflated assets as long as others are ready to bid them higher.
Gates has stated that he is “not long or short” cryptocurrency and favors traditional investing. “I’m used to asset classes, like a farm where they have output, or like a company where they make products,” he said.
He also made fun of the Bored Apes NFTs, stating that “expensive digital images of monkeys” will “immensely benefit the world.” Bored Ape Yacht Club NFTs’ floor price fell below $100,000 for the first time in almost a year yesterday, after reaching an all-time high of nearly $429,000 (152 ETH) on April 29. According to NFT Price Floor, the collection’s floor price is currently around $83,000 (76 ETH).
Gates has previously expressed reservations about crypto. Gates said in a 2021 interview with Bloomberg that it’s one thing for Elon Musk and Tesla to invest in bitcoin, but that doesn’t mean normal investors should.
“I do think people get bought into these manias, who may not have as much money to spare,” Gates said. “So I’m not bullish on bitcoin.”
His current remarks come as bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, like the global financial markets, are plummeting.