Shulou(Shulou.com)11/24 Report--

CTOnews.com, February 3 (Xinhua)-- Charlie Munger, vice chairman of Berkshire Hathaway, once again urged the US government to ban cryptocurrencies, as China has done, arguing that lack of regulation will lead to "greed" and gambling psychology.

"cryptocurrencies are not currencies, commodities or securities," Mr. Munger, 99, said in a column published in the Wall Street Journal on Thursday.

"instead, it's a gambling contract, and casinos have an almost 100% advantage, signed in a country where traditionally only loosely competitive states regulate gambling contracts," Munger said. Obviously, it is time for the United States to enact a new federal law to prevent this from happening. "

Munger and his business partner Warren Buffett have long been skeptical of cryptocurrencies as not tangible or productive assets. Mr Munger's latest comments come as the encryption industry is beset by problems ranging from failed projects to tight liquidity, exacerbated by the collapse of FTX, once one of the world's largest exchanges.

CTOnews.com learned that the cryptocurrency market lost more than $2 trillion in value last year, and the price of bitcoin, the world's largest cryptocurrency, plummeted 65% in 2022. It has rebounded by about 40%, with a trading price of about $23824, according to Coin Metrics.

In recent years, Mr. Munger said, privately owned companies have issued thousands of new cryptocurrencies that trade publicly without any government prior approval. Some companies sell to sponsors almost at the price of cabbage, and then the public buys them at much higher prices without fully understanding "pre-dilution in favor of sponsors".

Munger cited two "interesting precedents" that could guide the United States to take reasonable action. First, China has strictly banned the provision of virtual currency trading, order matching, token issuance and derivatives services. Second, from the beginning of the 17th century, the British Parliament banned the public trading of all new common stocks and maintained the ban for about 100 years.

Munger wrote: "what should the United States do after the cryptocurrency ban? well, one more thing might make sense: thank Chinese leaders for setting an outstanding example with extraordinary sanity."

Welcome to subscribe "Shulou Technology Information " to get latest news, interesting things and hot topics in the IT industry, and controls the hottest and latest Internet news, technology news and IT industry trends.