Yelling at Clouds - The Daily Gwei #392
The future is now old man.
I’m sure you’re all well aware of the classic Simpsons gag turned meme ‘Old Man Yells at Cloud’ and I’m sure you’re aware how often examples of this play out in crypto. As you can see below, Charlie Munger not only stated that he’s never going to buy crypto but is also advocating for an outright ban on them - while praising China - these comments are very weird but not totally surprising considering the world and generation that Munger comes from.
Now, I don’t actually think it’s fair to generalize based on age because there are plenty of people of all ages that take this archaic view on cryptocurrency and think it’s something that should be banned. Though I’m actually quite shocked that Munger, who made his fortune in large part due to the opportunities that America afforded him, is praising China of all places for their stance on crypto. The worst part is that I highly doubt Munger even knows the first thing about crypto and has definitely just formed his opinion off of some mainstream media coverage. If Munger actually understood crypto, he’d know that it actually embodies the classic “American values” such as liberty and freedom quite well!
In saying the above, there is definitely a generational divide happening here between those who grew up in a digital world and those who had a digital world thrust upon them. For those of us who grew up with the digital world/internet, crypto is easy to understand because many of the concepts translate over quite well. For those who only got their first smartphone a few years ago this whole notion of “digital value” is completely alien to them and requires a new way of thinking that they either don’t care to learn or simply don’t have the time to. And maybe they don’t even need to learn this stuff because it won’t ever really be part of their everyday lives - that’s totally okay - but what’s not okay is spreading uneducated opinions about things.
Another reason why Munger and people like him may be hostile towards crypto is because it is working to disrupt the systems that he holds dear - namely, traditional financial institutions that made him his fortune. Crypto does quite literally pose a threat to the “powers that be” and is already disrupting them in small and large ways with this disruption only set to continue. Though I still think Munger probably doesn’t understand this nuance (I doubt he has the time to care) but I’m sure others such as JP Morgan’s CEO Jamie Dimon know disruption when they see it and how they each individually react to this disruption can be very telling.
At the end of the day, I don’t think crypto needs people like Munger to be advocates for it - they are simply part of a different time and a different world that is going to die out with them in the coming years. And with that old world’s death will come a new world - one that is powered by decentralized, transparent and permissionless systems instead of the centralized, opaque and permissioned ones that Munger leveraged to make his fortune.
As Dewey once said - the future is now old man.
Have a great weekend everyone,
Anthony Sassano
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All information presented above is for educational purposes only and should not be taken as investment advice.