# Two sides of the same bitcoin

By [Brandon Donnelly](https://brandondonnelly.com) · 2018-05-10

bitcoin, crypto-assets, cyrpt, cyrptocurrency, discounted-cash-flow, finance, fred-wilson, investing, investment, irr, tech, uncategorized, venture-capital, warren-buffet

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Warren Buffet recently said in [a Yahoo Finance interview](https://finance.yahoo.com/news/warren-buffett-buying-bitcoin-not-investing-110702015.html) that when you buy cryptocurrencies you’re not actually investing. Instead, you’re speculating – speculating that “somebody else will come along and pay more money tomorrow.” Investments need to generate a return. And nobody is at all clear on how to value these crypto-assets. This is noteworthy, of course, because it’s Buffet.

But I thought Fred Wilson wrote [a good rebuttal on his blog](https://avc.com/2018/05/is-buying-crypto-assets-investing/) where he points out that, while, yes, a discounted cash flow model isn’t going to be very useful in helping you determine value in this instance, what we are actually seeing is, “the creation of a new internet, built upon protocols that allow for decentralized networks to form…” We’ve talked about this many times before on the blog.

So where I stand on this debate is that I agree with both Warren and Fred. I don’t see crypto-assets as something I want to start putting a lot of money into right now because I don’t know how to calculate what the IRR may be. But at the same time, if crypto-assets are creating decentralized infrastructure that will one day power the “new internet”, I am positive this new internet will eventually create businesses that will fit into Warren’s definition of an investment.

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*Originally published on [Brandon Donnelly](https://brandondonnelly.com/two-sides-of-the-same-bitcoin)*