Yahoo, a technology conglomerate which recently agreed to rebrand to Altaba, short for alternative and Alibaba, published a controversial article entitled “Is Warren Buffett Wrong About Bitcoin?,” citing multi-billion dollar investor Buffet’s viewpoint on Bitcoin.
In 2014, Buffett described Bitcoin’s price rally as an illusion, calling the digital currency a mirage on CNBC’s Squawk Box. At the time, the price of Bitcoin plunged from over $1,000 to $200, mostly because of the Chinese government’s declaration of Bitcoin as a virtual good.
Buffett further suggested that Bitcoin will not be able to gain intrinsic value over time as a currency. He explained that Bitcoin is only effective as a money transmission method and that it doesn’t have an actual real world value.
Dan Gilbert, the Quicken Loans founder, supported the claims of Buffett, stating:
"It's a method of transmitting money. It's a very effective way of transmitting money and you can do it anonymously and all that. A check is a way of transmitting money, too. Are checks worth a whole lot of money just because they can transmit money? Are money orders? You can transmit money by money orders. People do it. I hope Bitcoin becomes a better way of doing it, but you can replicate it a bunch of different ways and it will be. The idea that it has some huge intrinsic value is just a joke in my view."
Lumping everything together
Yahoo’s article suggests that still to this date, Bitcoin can be recreated. It explains that Blockchain technology has led to the introduction of more efficient money transmission methods and platforms when in reality, the Blockchain market is yet to see a commercially successful or fully implemented Blockchain project.
Absurdly, the article goes on to give two specific examples BitGold and OneCoin, out of many other cryptocurrencies that are based on legitimate cryptography such as Monero and ZCash.
“As such, it looks as though Bitcoin can be billed to have succeeded thus far. This is backed by the fact that several other companies, including BitGold and OneCoin, have launched their own types of cryptocurrencies,” the article reads.
We need to talk about OneCoin
Over the past few years, Cointelegraph has offered extensive coverage on OneCoin, which has proven over time has a complete Ponzi scheme and scam. Many countries and governments including the United Kingdom’s financial conduct authority (FCA) issued warning against OneCoin, perceiving it as an obvious scam developed to profit off other people’s investment.
“As OneCoin is not authorized, consumers who deal with it will have no protection from the Financial Ombudsman Service or the Financial Services Compensation Scheme,” said the FCA.
Disregarding the increased awareness on Bitcoin as a digital currency and safe haven asset used by investors and traders worldwide to protect their wealth in economic uncertainty. Several mainstream media outlets are purposely presenting highly controversial and biased narratives which may negatively affect the mainstream adoption of Bitcoin.