Berkshire’s Munger Calls Bitcoin ‘Noxious Poison’

Add Charlie Munger, the longtime business partner of Warren Buffett, to the growing list of people who aren’t fans of bitcoin.

According to Reuters, Munger called the recent “craze” in the cryptocurrency “totally asinine.”

“Bitcoin is noxious poison,” Munger said at the annual meeting of Daily Journal Corporation, the Los Angeles-based newspaper publisher he chairs. “The more popular it got the more I hated it.”

He also said that he believes regulators need to “let up” on Wells Fargo, which has been plagued with recent scandals, including one that revealed that employees had opened a slew of fake accounts in the retail banking units. That resulted in a record fine, the ousting of key executives – including the CEO – and an overhaul of the company’s corporate culture.

In addition, the company also forced unnecessary insurance on auto loan customers, and forced thousands of U.S. customers to lock in home interest rates when their mortgage applications were delayed.

“Of course, Wells Fargo had incentive systems that were too strong in the wrong direction, and of course they were too slow in reacting properly to bad news,” but “practically everyone” makes those kinds of mistakes, Munger said.

“Wells Fargo will end up better off for having made those mistakes,” he said. “I think it’s time for regulators to let up on Wells Fargo. They’ve learned.”

It shouldn’t come as a surprise that Munger favors the plan announced by Berkshire Hathaway, Amazon and JPMorgan Chase & Co. to create a health care company for their employees to take on rising costs.

According to Munger, the current health care system “runs out of control on the cost side,” causing behavior that is “regrettable” and “evil.” “It’s not right to bleed so much money out of our dying people. I’m all for somebody trying to figure it out,” he said.