Dave Ramsey has a blunt response to friends buying crypto for fun

Dave Ramsey has a blunt response to friends buying crypto for fun originally appeared on TheStreet.

On a July 29 episode of The Ramsey Show, personal finance guru Dave Ramsey revealed an unusual story.

A wealthy friend of his deliberately put $10,000 into cryptocurrency for one reason only: to get a rise out of him.

“And I’m like, you’re an idiot,” Ramsey said with a poker face. “He wanted me to call him an idiot and I did.”

Ramsey explained that his friend—worth “a bazillion dollars”—didn’t need the money and made the investment purely to poke fun at his long-standing anti-crypto stance. But Ramsey was quick to stress he would have called him an idiot even if he had only talked about investing in crypto.

“You don’t even have to really lose the money to do it,” he added. “I would have called you an idiot for free.”

Why Ramsey rejects Bitcoin as an investment

Ramsey has consistently categorized Bitcoin and other digital currencies as speculation, not investment. To him, buying crypto is no different than gambling on red at a Las Vegas roulette table or trading Beanie Babies during the 1990s.

“There is no currency, regardless of how legitimate, that is a valid investment,” Ramsey said. “Bitcoin is speculation. You’re gambling, not investing.”

He compared it to buying the euro or the yen because “your golfing buddy said it was a good idea,” calling the logic deeply flawed.

At the core of Ramsey’s critique is volatility.

“Chart the volatility of Bitcoin, and then smile at me with a serious face and tell me this is a solid investment,” he said. “And I’ll tell you you’re smoking crack.”

Ramsey acknowledged that Bitcoin might be “here to stay” and could evolve into a legitimate payment system someday. But in his view, it has not yet demonstrated the stability required of a reliable currency.

“It’s like riding the worst roller coaster that went off the rails at Six Flags,” he joked.

Crypto vs. commodities and collectibles

Ramsey often compares Bitcoin to commodities like gold, silver, or even pandemic-era shortages.

“Commodities go up or down based on shortage or oversupply, caused by greed or fear,” he explained.

He lumped Bitcoin alongside Beanie Babies, Pokémon cards, and even toilet paper during COVID-19, all of which spiked in price due to scarcity and hype, only to collapse later.

Still, Ramsey doesn’t forbid dabbling in crypto entirely. He maintains that if people want to use “fun money” to speculate, it’s their choice.

“If that brings you joy, then do it. But don’t call it an investment. And for heaven’s sake, don’t risk your whole financial future on it.”

At the time of writing, Bitcoin (BTC) is trading at $116,520 on Kraken, down about 1.2% in the past 24 hours but still up nearly 95% compared to a year ago. The cryptocurrency has recently been swinging between $114,700 and $124,000.

Dave Ramsey has a blunt response to friends buying crypto for fun first appeared on TheStreet on Aug 18, 2025

This story was originally reported by TheStreet on Aug 18, 2025, where it first appeared.

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