Bill Gates blasts cryptocurrencies, NFTs as based on ‘greater-fool’ theory

Billionaire Bill Gates dismissed cryptocurrency projects such as nonfungible tokens as shams “based on the greater-fool theory” at a climate conference Tuesday, reviving past criticisms of digital assets.

“Obviously, expensive digital images of monkeys are going to improve the world immensely,” Gates said sarcastically while speaking at an event in Berkeley, California hosted by TechCrunch. He said he’s neither long nor short the asset class.

Gates has criticized crypto before, sparring with Elon Musk last year over whether Bitcoin is too risky for retail investors and the environmental harm of mining coins.