Cryptocurrency pioneer pays $4.57m for lunch with Warren Buffett

Cryptocurrency pioneer Justin Sun has bid a record $4.57m (£3.6m) to have lunch with Berkshire Hathaway’ Warren Buffett, a longtime critic of cryptocurrencies.

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The 28-year old submitted the winning bid during a five-day online charity auction on eBay which ended on Friday. Previous winners include Greenlight Capital’s David Einhorn and Ted Weschler, who Buffet later hired as an investing deputy.

Sun launched cryptocurrency Tron in 2017. Valued at $2.35bn, it is the 11th largest cryptocurrency in the world, according to CoinMarketCap.com.

Buffett has been an outspoken critic of cryptocurrencies in the past – saying they produce no value and referring to Bitcoin as “rat poison squared” earlier this year.

In an open letter on Medium, Sun wrote that he was looking forward to the upcoming lunch with Buffett as “an opportunity to seek mutual understanding and growth.”

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He also pointed out that “even the most successful investors of all time can sometimes miss a coming wave. Buffett has admitted he overpaid for a big investment [in] food giant Kraft Heinz, while failing to realise the potential of the likes of Amazon, Alphabet and even Apple.”

Buffet responded through his personal assistant that he is “delighted that Justin has won the lunch”, adding that he was “looking forward to meeting him and his friends.”

Sun can invite as many as seven people to join him at the lunch. He said he will choose several “industry leaders” in the crypto and blockchain community to try to change Buffett’s mind.

The proceeds of the auction will go to the Glide Foundation, a San Francsico charity that helps the poor, homeless and those battling substance abuse.