פון שטשור סם צו בעאַניע בייביז, די סאַלעבז גאַט ביטקאָין אַלע פאַלש

Many famous people got Bitcoin totally wrong. Thousands dismissed it as a scam or pyramid scheme, while others predicted hackers or the government would shut it down. Skeptics like Elon Musk even criticized its environmental impact while פּראַמאָוטינג blatant scams (remember CumRocket?).

So below we’ve compiled a short list of some of the famous people who have been completely wrong about bitcoin since the project started 13 years ago.

Behold, Bitcoin’s celebrity wall of shame.

עלאָן מאַסק

Best known as the CEO of SpaceX, Tesla, and The Boring Company, Elon Musk frequently misunderstands bitcoin.

Musk frequently criticized its energy usage, אַמאָל ווערטל, “Bitcoin hashing (a.k.a. mining) energy usage is starting to exceed that of medium-sized countries. Almost impossible for small hashers to succeed without those massive economies of scale.”

Ironically, Musk’s company Tesla briefly accepted bitcoin payments for its electric vehicles. However, Elon Musk removed that option, claiming he somehow had not understood bitcoin mining’s effect on the environment while appropriating the opportunity to promote his pet project, Dogecoin, instead.

Telsa briefly owned over a billion dollars worth of bitcoin, yet the company’s second quarter 2022 earnings report גילוי that Musk has sold three-quarters of its bitcoin.

Musk ignored the amount of renewable energy that Bitcoin mining uses. Coinshares באפרייט a report showing that 74% of Bitcoin’s energy came from renewable sources in 2019. The Bitcoin Mining Council האט that more than half of the energy used for Bitcoin mining came from renewable sources in the second half of 2021. Coindesk writer Nic Carter פארגעלייגט that mining could incentivize development of renewable energy sources which have סטראַגאַלד with its power grid during the harsh winter months of early 2021.

וואָראַן בופפעטט

Renowned investor Warren Buffett repeatedly went in hard on bitcoin, calling it “שטשור סם"און ווערטל that “it has no unique value at all.”

Buffett’s protégé and Berkshire Hathaway Vice Chairman Charlie Munger also קריטיקירט the leading crypto in April 2022, saying that it’s “stupid, evil, and makes me look bad.”

However, even billionaires like Buffet sometimes drop the ball. Buffett’s mantra, “Never invest in a business you can’t understand,” meant he was decades late to the internet industry. This is a goof he’s readily owned up to, specifically his decision not to invest in Google.

Perhaps he simply doesn’t understand bitcoin any more than he understood the early Internet. After all, it’s doubled in value since his rat סאַם שורה.

סענאטאר עליזאבעט ווארען

סענאַטאָר וואָראַן קריטיקירט bitcoin’s energy usage, claiming, “A single bitcoin transaction uses more energy than a typical US household in a month. I think the estimate is 53 days.”

Firing back, Blocktower Capital CIO Ari Paul retorted, “Social media uses more electricity than bitcoin. You could do more for climate change by not tweeting.”

Galaxy Digital Mining באפרייט a detailed May 2021 report:

• “Always-on” household appliances consume 1,375 TWh annually
• The banking system consumes 238.92 TWh annually
• Bitcoin consumes 113.89 TWh annually

Galaxy Digital Mining’s report made the point that context matters when discussing bitcoin’s energy usage. Many other industries and applications use more electricity than bitcoin, including Christmas lights.

לייענען מער: ביטקאָין מיינערז געצווונגען צו דאַמפּ פאַרמעגן צו בלייַבן פלאָוט צווישן מאַרק קראַך

בראַד שערמאַן

California Representative Sherman has repeatedly criticized bitcoin, פאַך it a tool of “anarchists who are rooting for tax evasion” and a סאַקאָנע to America.

אין 2019, ער גערופן for a crypto ban, branding digital currency a threat to US foreign policy און די הערשן פון געזעץ.

But despite his desire to protect investors, bitcoin went on to double in price since Sherman called for banning it.

In February 2022, he האט אַז digital assets hurt people of color, something that made little sense to digital asset insiders, considering that one of bitcoin’s selling points is that anyone can download a wallet for free and validate the entire blockchain on a home desktop PC.

In turn, Sherman was criticized for גענומען campaign donations from big banks and mainstream financial institutions. Donors included the American Banking Association, Capital One, and Charles Schwab.

Janet Yellen

US Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen falsely קליימד אַז ביטקאָין איז mostly used for illicit financing.

“I think many are used, at least in a transactions sense, mainly for illicit financing and I think we really need to examine ways in which we can curtail their use and make sure that anti-money laundering [sic] doesn’t occur through those channels,” she דערציילט a congressional committee while going through confirmation proceedings as Treasury Secretary.

While bitcoin has been used for a small number of ransomware attacks and fraud, Kraken’s Dan Held clarified that Yellen was wrong about bitcoin being synonymous with illegal activity, revealing that crime accounted for less than 0.3% of crypto-related activity in 2020.

פעטרוס שיף

Schiff has made bearish predictions about bitcoin since it was trading below $1,000. A quintessential permabear, he recently געווארנט, “Don’t buy the dip,” as bitcoin tried to break out of its downtrend. He even claimed some holders might have to sell to cover basic expenses as inflation soars.

Bitcoin investors will likely always ignore Peter Schiff’s warnings, considering that he’s made gloomy predictions about bitcoin since it traded over 95% cheaper than today’s price.

דזשעימי דימאָן

JP Morgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon repeatedly bashed bitcoin. He called bitcoin “ווערטלאַס” in October 2021 just as the currency was hitting new all-time highs. He claimed that JP Morgan wouldn’t stop account holders from buying it but would not hold bitcoin itself.