Bill Gates Says NFTs Are Based on ‘Greater Fool Theory’

The tech billionaire shared his opinions at a climate conference. This conference was hosted by TechCrunch.

NFTs and crypto don’t have Bill Gates’s approval

Bill Gates Says NFTs Are Based on ‘Greater Fool Theory’

The tech billionaire said that digital assets— particularly NFTs— are “100% based on greater fool theory” while speaking at a climate conference hosted by TechCrunch on Tuesday. In essence: the assets will only go up in price as long as there are enough investors who are willing to pay more for them, making the assets void of any real value when investors aren’t present.

Gates joked about how the Bored Ape NFT collection used to be prized, saying “Obviously, expensive digital images of monkeys are going to improve the world immensely.”

Gates has spoken out against digital assets in the past, even when the market was doing well. He doesn’t think they have a practical use.

In early 2021, Gates said that regular investors should not spend a lot of money on Bitcoin. “I do think people get bought into these manias who may not have as much money to spare,” said Gates in a 2021 interview. “My general thought would be that if you have less money than Elon [Musk], you should probably watch out.”

At the time, Bitcoin was soaring and would soon reach its peak of $64,000 later that year. But since then it has steadily declined and dipped to over half of its value since the start of 2022. It is currently trading at a base near $20,000.

Also see: Bill Gates Says that Bitcoin is bad For the Planet

When it comes to investing, the Microsoft co-founder still believes in the value of putting money towards assets that you can see and touch. “like a farm where they have output, or like a company where they make products,” He does not believe in the inherent value of digital assets.

As cryptocurrencies continue to fall in value, Bitcoin was trading at a new low of $20,166 on Wednesday. This means that the currency has fallen about 70% in value since its peak just last year.