The co-founder of Microsoft and the world’s fourth-richest man, Bill Gates, expressed his dislike for Non Fungible Tokens(NFTs) in an interview at TechCrunch’s sessions: Climate 2022.
Bill Gates outrightly stated that he was not involved in NFTs.
“NFTs are not assets I like to own”
When he was asked his views on NFTs and cryptocurrency. He said that they are not assets that he would like to own and he went ahead to describe the kind of assets he prefers.
He said that he prefers assets like farms where they have output or companies that make products.
According to him, NFTs are based 100 percent on the Greater Fools Theory. And this states that “A fool will purchase an overvalued asset at an expensive rate to sell it to a “greater fool” at a higher price”.
Bill Gates also made fun of the NFT market saying in a sarcastic way that “Expensive digital Images of monkeys will serve to improve the world better”. When he made this statement, he was referring to the BAYC NFT collectibles.
Bored Ape Yacht Club(BAYC) consists of 10, 000 NFT collections that feature Bored Apes on the Ethereum blockchain.
Each of the bored apes has rare attributes derived from over 170 traits. This include background, clothing, earring, hat, expression, and many more.
The Bored Apes are usually represented as ERC-721 tokens on the Ethereum blockchain. The more rare traits an Ape has, the more expensive it is. There, Apes with rare traits are more costly.
The holders of the BAYC NFT have certain benefits. Such as access to their discord server, free access to Bored Ape Kenne and mutant Yacht club, access to new NFTs, and NFT upgrade.
Warren Buffet shares Bill Gates sentiment on NFTs
Bill Gates is not the only billionaire that has expressed his dissatisfaction with NFTs and cryptocurrencies. The CEO of Berkshire Hathaway– Warren Buffet– has almost the same thoughts about cryptocurrency, especially Bitcoin.
In the annual Berkshire Hathaway shareholder’s meeting last month. Warren Buffet said that if you told him to own the Bitcoin in the world and offered it at $25, he wouldn’t take it.
Buffet also gave almost the same reasons as Gates for not investing in cryptocurrency. He said that owning assets like real estate and farmlands will give rise to revenue such as rent and crops. While Bitcoin does not offer any of such values.
Conclusion
After Bill Gates made a mockery of the BAYC NFT. The collection’s floor price dropped below $100 for the first time in a year. This is not a surprise because of his influence in the tech industry.p
Cryptocurrency and NFTs are still evolving. Time will tell if they will make the world better or if they will not offer any value in the future.