Buffett once regarded Bitcoin as "rat poison," while his company splurged $1.2 billion in the crypto market

Warren Buffett has always been clear about his dislike for Cryptocurrency. However, Berkshire Hathaway has invested millions of dollars in a Brazilian bank related to Cryptocurrency - Nu Holdings Ltd., whose stock has increased by 34% this year.

Warren Buffett, CEO and Chairman of Berkshire Hathaway, has repeatedly expressed his dislike for Cryptocurrency.

At the 2018 Berkshire Hathaway shareholders meeting, Buffett referred to Bitcoin as “probably rat poison squared”.

“As far as Crypto Assets are concerned, I can almost certainly say they will come to a bad ending,” Buffett said in a CNBC interview in 2018. “We don’t own any Crypto Assets, we don’t short any Crypto Assets, we will never have a position in them.” “As far as Crypto Assets are concerned, I can almost certainly say they will come to a bad ending,” Buffett said in a CNBC interview in 2018. “We don’t own any Crypto Assets, we don’t short any Crypto Assets, we will never have a position in them.”

However, recent reports indicate that Berkshire Hathaway and some of its investment managers may be becoming more lenient in their views on Crypto Assets.

Berkshire Hathaway has invested in Nu Holdings, a Brazilian digital bank 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 financing round in 2021, followed by an additional investment of $2.5 billion.

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 Cryptocurrency.

Nu Holdings did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fortune magazine.

According to a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Berkshire Hathaway increased its stake in NU from 0.1% at the end of the fourth quarter of 2022 to 0.4% in the third quarter of the 2024 fiscal year.

Berkshire Hathaway and representatives of Buffett did not immediately respond to Fortune’s request for comment.

This means that as of the end of the third quarter of fiscal year 2024, Berkshire Hathaway holds over 86 million shares of NU stock, worth nearly 1.2 billion US dollars. Therefore, Buffett and Berkshire Hathaway are benefiting from a business that he previously claimed to not understand.

“I’ve caused a lot of trouble because of what I thought I understood,” Buffett said in a 2018 CNBC interview. “So why would I go long or short in something I don’t understand at all?”

As of Wednesday noon, Nu Holdings’ stock price has risen nearly 34% year-on-year. Now, Berkshire Hathaway seems to be making investments related to cryptocurrency, and Buffett may need to rephrase his previous statement that cryptocurrency will not have any impact.

“If you tell me you have all the bitcoins in the world and offer them to me for $25, I still wouldn’t take them, because what would I do with them?” Buffett said at the 2022 Berkshire Hathaway shareholders meeting. “I’d have to sell it back to you, no matter what. It doesn’t do anything.”

However, it should be noted that Berkshire Hathaway is generally more conservative in its investment strategy. According to the company’s financial report for the fourth quarter of 2024, Berkshire Hathaway holds over $325 billion in cash and equivalents, most of which are U.S. Treasury bonds. This means that Berkshire Hathaway also avoids heavily investing in hot stocks even when the market is performing well.

“The reason Berkshire has been successful over these years is because it has always maintained a boring way in this regard,” said Mayer Scherz, managing director of boutique investment bank Keefe, Bruyette & Woods, in an interview with Alaina Botros of Fortune magazine in November 2024.

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