Bill Gates is against Bitcoin primarily because he believes it has no "real value," is environmentally destructive due to high energy consumption, and poses risks to retail investors. As of 2025, he has reiterated that it is a speculative asset based on the "greater fool theory," where investors rely on selling to someone else at a higher price.
Bill Gates has made it clear—he's not a fan of cryptocurrency. And he's not just skeptical; he flat-out thinks it has no value. "None," he told The New York Times in a January interview. That's a pretty bold stance coming from one of the most successful tech minds in history.
Even the leading crypto, bitcoin, has been through more than its share of choppy waters. That volatility — coupled with the fact that crypto investor sentiment is often driven more by hype than business fundamentals — helps explain why legendary investor Warren Buffett tends to avoid the asset.
"We are concerned about rapidly increasing use of fossil fuels for Bitcoin mining and transactions," Musk explained in a tweet, "especially coal, which has the worst emissions of any fuel."
Edward Hadad, a certified financial planner at Financial Asset Management Corp., recommends that speculative assets like crypto or gold should not exceed more than 5% of a person's portfolio, regardless of market conditions.
Key Takeaways. The IRS treats cryptocurrency as property, meaning that when you buy, sell or exchange it, this counts as a taxable event and typically results in either a capital gain or loss. When you earn income from cryptocurrency activities, this is taxed as ordinary income.
Ramsey's Simple Three-Investment Rule
In a 2024 video, Ramsey said, "I have three investments — that's all I have: my business, paid-for real estate and mutual funds. I don't play single stocks. I don't screw around with gold. I don't mess with Bitcoin."
As for Cuban, he has been a vocal Bitcoin backer for many years and even endorsed it as a superior alternative to gold during economic crises.
Background. In American president Donald Trump's first term, he had opposed cryptocurrency, calling it "not money" and "based on thin air". He had told Fox Business in 2021 that Bitcoin "seems like a scam" to compete with the U.S. dollar. In his second presidency, Trump campaigned for digital assets.
He has repeatedly described himself as a supporter of “crypto in principle”, often distinguishing between its technological merits and its environmental footprint.
On March 3, 2025, President Trump announced that the reserve would include Solana (SOL), Cardano (ADA), Ripple (XRP), Ethereum (ETH), and Bitcoin (BTC) aiming to make the US the "Crypto Capital of the World" and support industry growth.
Laszlo Hanyecz, a programmer and early Bitcoin miner, famously traded 10,000 Bitcoin for two Papa John's pizzas on May 22, 2010, marking the first documented commercial transaction for physical goods with cryptocurrency, a day now celebrated as "Bitcoin Pizza Day". At the time, the Bitcoins were worth only about $41, but the value of those coins would later grow to be worth hundreds of millions, even over a billion dollars, making it one of history's most expensive pizzas.
Investing $100 in Bitcoin about 10 years ago (around late 2015/early 2016) would have turned that initial amount into tens of thousands of dollars, potentially over $30,000, given Bitcoin's massive growth from roughly $300-$400 per coin to over $100,000 by late 2025/early 2026, though exact value depends on the specific purchase price and current market fluctuations, representing an astronomical return but also highlighting Bitcoin's extreme volatility.
2011 – 2012: $1 to $13.50
In 2011, the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) accepted BTC for donations for a few months, but quickly backtracked due to a lack of a legal framework for virtual currencies. In February of 2011, BTC reached $1.00 for the first time, achieving parity with the U.S. dollar.
James Howells, the man who accidentally threw away a hard drive with thousands of Bitcoin (originally around 7,500 to 8,000 BTC) in 2013, has spent over a decade trying to get it back from a landfill in Wales, but has largely given up after numerous failed attempts and rejections from local authorities, with a judge ruling his quest unlikely to succeed, though he's explored tokenizing the assets and even buying the landfill site.