Original Title: Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway takes a sip of the crypto 'rat poison' he once said he would never go near
Source: fortune
Translation: Ted Wu
Warren Buffett has consistently expressed his dislike for cryptocurrencies. However, Berkshire Hathaway has invested millions of dollars in a Brazil-based bank related to cryptocurrency—Nu Holdings Ltd., whose stock has risen 34% over the year.
Berkshire Hathaway's CEO and Chairman Warren Buffett has repeatedly made his stance on cryptocurrencies clear: he does not like them.
At the 2018 Berkshire Hathaway annual meeting, Buffett referred to Bitcoin as "probably rat poison squared."
"When it comes to cryptocurrencies, I can say almost with certainty that they will come to a bad ending," Buffett said in a 2018 interview with CNBC. "We don’t own any cryptocurrency, we don’t short any cryptocurrency, we will never own it." "When it comes to cryptocurrencies, I can say almost with certainty that they will come to a bad ending," Buffett said in a 2018 interview with CNBC. "We don’t own any cryptocurrency, we don’t short any cryptocurrency, we will never own it."
But recent reports indicate that Berkshire Hathaway and some of its investment managers may have become more lenient in their views on cryptocurrencies.
Berkshire Hathaway invested in Nu Holdings, a Brazilian digital banking company that has its own cryptocurrency platform and supports the cryptocurrency market. According to information from Nu, Berkshire Hathaway initially participated in a $500 million Series G funding round in 2021, followed by an investment of $250 million.
In 2022, Nu launched its cryptocurrency platform—Nubank Cripto, initially supporting Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Polygon. The platform now includes Uniswap and Chainlink, allowing users to send, receive, and exchange cryptocurrencies.
Nu Holdings did not immediately respond to Fortune's request for comment.
According to filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Berkshire Hathaway increased its stake in Nu from 0.1% at the end of Q4 2022 to 0.4% by the end of Q3 FY 2024.
Representatives for Berkshire Hathaway and Buffett did not immediately respond to Fortune's request for comment.
This means that as of the end of Q3 FY 2024, Berkshire Hathaway holds over 86 million shares of Nu stock, valued at nearly $1.2 billion. Thus, Buffett and Berkshire Hathaway are profiting from a business he previously claimed not to understand.
"I’ve gotten in trouble for the things I think I understand," Buffett said in a 2018 interview with CNBC. "So why would I want to be long or short something I don’t understand at all?"
As of Wednesday noon, Nu Holdings' stock price has risen nearly 34% year-over-year. Now, Berkshire Hathaway seems to be making investments related to cryptocurrencies, and Buffett may need to rephrase his previous statements about cryptocurrencies not having an impact.
"If you told me you owned all the Bitcoin in the world and you would sell it to me for $25, I wouldn’t take it because what would I do with it?" Buffett said at the 2022 Berkshire Hathaway shareholder meeting. "I’d have to sell it back to you, in any case. It won’t do anything."
Nevertheless, it is important to note that Berkshire Hathaway is generally conservative in its investment strategy. According to the company's Q4 2024 financial statements, Berkshire Hathaway holds over $325 billion in cash and equivalents, most of which are U.S. Treasury bonds. This means that Berkshire Hathaway avoids making large investments in popular stocks even when the market is performing well.
"Berkshire has succeeded over the years because it has maintained a boring approach in this regard," said Meyer Shields, Managing Director at boutique investment bank Keefe, Bruyette & Woods, in an interview with Fortune's Alena Botros in November 2024.
免责声明：本文章仅代表作者个人观点，不代表本平台的立场和观点。本文章仅供信息分享，不构成对任何人的任何投资建议。用户与作者之间的任何争议，与本平台无关。如网页中刊载的文章或图片涉及侵权，请提供相关的权利证明和身份证明发送邮件到support@aicoin.com，本平台相关工作人员将会进行核查。
