Warren Buffett remains skeptical about cryptocurrencies despite on-chain analytics revealing parabolic growth and industry leaders’ best attempts.
Cryptocurrencies Have “Zero” Value, Says Buffett
Justin Sun, the CEO of TRON and BitTorrent, spent $4.6 million in a charity auction to have lunch with the head of Berkshire Hathaway, Warren Buffett.
The main idea behind winning the charity auction was to persuade the legendary investor to reconsider his bearish take on cryptocurrencies.
During the meal, Sun reportedly gave Buffett his first Bitcoin and a smartphone with over 1.9 million TRON tokens, as well as other digital assets, including BitTorrent, WINK, and USDT-TRC20—all projects on the TRON blockchain.
Despite the massive sum of money that Sun spent, it now appears that the effort was in vain.
In a recent interview with CNBC, Buffett described the meet up as a “very friendly exchange of ideas.” Buffett explained that Sun was not able to change his perception and affirmed that “cryptocurrencies basically have no value.”
“Cryptocurrencies do not produce anything. You can look at your little ledger item for the next 20 years and it says that you have X of this cryptocurrency, or that. It does not reproduce, it does not deliver, it cannot mail you a check, it cannot do anything. And, what you hope is that somebody else comes along and pays you more money for it later on, but then that person has the problem. But, in terms of value, you know zero,” said Buffett.
The American business magnate also denied owning any cryptocurrency when asked multiple times about the tokens that Sun gave him and asserted that he will never own any. According to Buffett, cryptocurrencies were invented to make it easier to “move around a fair amount of money illegally.”
Although the sage of Omaha remains skeptical about the future of cryptocurrencies, there are others who seem overwhelmingly bullish.
Mass Adoption Is Happening “Now”
On-chain analyst Willy Woo, recently stated that Bitcoin is going through exponential growth.
Due to human nature’s instinct to look at “things in a linear stance,” it is difficult to understand what the flagship cryptocurrency is doing outside of this perspective.
“If you were to look at where we are on the adoption curve, we are at 1% of the world population holding this asset class. And, if you look at the rate in which that is growing, which is 2x every year… and 4x on a bull market. If you run those numbers, we are going to have half of the world using [cryptocurrencies] within the next seven years,” said Woo.
While it is unknown what the future holds for cryptocurrencies, Woo maintains that mass adoption is happening now based on on-chain data. Only time will tell whether cryptos will triumph or fail as a speculative bubble.
TORONTO – Cineplex Inc. reported a loss in its latest quarter compared with a profit a year ago as it was hit by a fine for deceptive marketing practices imposed by the Competition Tribunal.
The movie theatre company says it lost $24.7 million or 39 cents per diluted share for the quarter ended Sept. 30 compared with a profit of $29.7 million or 40 cents per diluted share a year earlier.
The results in the most recent quarter included a $39.2-million provision related to the Competition Tribunal decision, which Cineplex is appealing.
The Competition Bureau accused the company of misleading theatregoers by not immediately presenting them with the full price of a movie ticket when they purchased seats online, a view the company has rejected.
Revenue for the quarter totalled $395.6 million, down from $414.5 million in the same quarter last year, while theatre attendance totalled 13.3 million for the quarter compared with nearly 15.7 million a year earlier.
Box office revenue per patron in the quarter climbed to $13.19 compared with $12 in the same quarter last year, while concession revenue per patron amounted to $9.85, up from $8.44 a year ago.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 6, 2024.
TORONTO – Restaurant Brands International Inc. reported net income of US$357 million for its third quarter, down from US$364 million in the same quarter last year.
The company, which keeps its books in U.S. dollars, says its profit amounted to 79 cents US per diluted share for the quarter ended Sept. 30 compared with 79 cents US per diluted share a year earlier.
Revenue for the parent company of Tim Hortons, Burger King, Popeyes and Firehouse Subs, totalled US$2.29 billion, up from US$1.84 billion in the same quarter last year.
Consolidated comparable sales were up 0.3 per cent.
On an adjusted basis, Restaurant Brands says it earned 93 cents US per diluted share in its latest quarter, up from an adjusted profit of 90 cents US per diluted share a year earlier.
The average analyst estimate had been for a profit of 95 cents US per share, according to LSEG Data & Analytics.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 5, 2024.
ST. JOHN’S, N.L. – Fortis Inc. reported a third-quarter profit of $420 million, up from $394 million in the same quarter last year.
The electric and gas utility says the profit amounted to 85 cents per share for the quarter ended Sept. 30, up from 81 cents per share a year earlier.
Fortis says the increase was driven by rate base growth across its utilities, and strong earnings in Arizona largely reflecting new customer rates at Tucson Electric Power.
Revenue in the quarter totalled $2.77 billion, up from $2.72 billion in the same quarter last year.
On an adjusted basis, Fortis says it earned 85 cents per share in its latest quarter, up from an adjusted profit of 84 cents per share in the third quarter of 2023.
The average analyst estimate had been for a profit of 82 cents per share, according to LSEG Data & Analytics.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 5, 2024.
