He said at the Berkshire Hathaway annual shareholders meeting Saturday that it's not a productive asset and it doesn't produce anything tangible. Despite a shift in public perception about bitcoin, Buffett still wouldn't buy it.
Buffett elaborated on why he doesn't see value in bitcoin, comparing it to things that generate other types of value.
"If you said... for a 1% interest in all the farmland in the United States, pay our group $25 billion, I'll write you a check this afternoon," Buffett said. "[For] $25 billion I now own 1% of the farmland. [If] you offer me 1% of all the apartment houses in the country and you want another $25 billion, I'll write you a check, it's very simple. Now if you told me you own all of the bitcoin in the world and you offered it to me for $25, I wouldn't take it because what would I do with it? I'd have to sell it back to you one way or another. It isn't going to do anything. The apartments are going to produce rent and the farms are going to produce food."
Investors for years have been puzzled over how to value bitcoin, in part because of its potential to serve different functions. In Western markets, it has been established as an investment asset, particularly in the past year as rates and inflation have been on the rise. In other markets, people still see enormous potential for its use as digital cash.
Both Buffett and Charlie Munger have made hostile comments toward bitcoin in the past. Most famously, Buffett said bitcoin is "probably rat poison squared."
Key Vocabulary: - tangible:明确的，真实的；可触摸的，可感知的 - tangible asset: 有形资产 - intangible: 不可捉摸的，难以确定的；（资产，利益）无形的 - elaborate on: 详细说明；阐明 - puzzle over: 苦思；困惑 - hostile: 敌对的，怀敌意的
