Bill Gates: Cryptocurrencies and NFTs ‘based on greater fool theory’

During a conference last week, Bill Gates said that NFTs – unique digital images that are privately owned though indefinitely reproducible – and cryptocurrencies are based 100% on a financial theory known as “greater fool” i.e. the idea that people are able to sell overpriced securities to a “greater fool.”

During the talk organized by TechCrunch, he joked about the Bored Ape Yacht Club, an NFT-based collection of monkeys dressed as humans that have been sold for hundreds of thousands of dollars. Some of their owners are even famous. “I don’t know, I mean obviously expensive digital images of monkeys are going to improve the world immensely,” he joked.

Gates expressed his preference for traditional sectors, such as farms or companies “or a company that makes products.” He clarified he is not involved in buying or selling of cryptocurrencies or NFTs in any way.

It’s not the first time Gates has criticized cryptocurrency. A little over a year ago, he warned that people who invest in the sector “don’t have a lot of money to waste.” Gates’s comments come as bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies have been in decline for several weeks. Bitcoin has fallen from its November high of $65,000 and is now just slightly above $20,000.

Edited by Xanthe Holloway.