Buffett, who used to call BTC 'rat poison,' now invests $1.2 billion in encryption assets

Warren Buffett has always expressed 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 risen by 34% annually.

Berkshire Hathaway's CEO and Chairman Warren Buffett has repeatedly stated his position on Crypto Assets: he doesn't like it.

At the 2018 Berkshire Hathaway annual meeting, Buffett referred to Bitcoin as the 'rat poison squared'.

"As far as Crypto Assets are concerned, I can almost say with certainty that they will come to a bad ending," Buffett said in an interview with CNBC in 2018. "We don't own any Crypto Assets, we don't short any Crypto Assets, we will never have them." "As far as Crypto Assets are concerned, I can almost say with certainty that they will come to a bad ending," Buffett said in an interview with CNBC in 2018. "We don't own any Crypto Assets, we don't short any Crypto Assets, we will never have them."

But recent reports indicate that Berkshire Hathaway and some of its fund managers may have become more lenient in their views on Crypto Assets.

Berkshire Hathaway has invested in Nu Holdings, a Brazilian digital bank company that owns its own Crypto Assets platform and supports the Crypto Assets market. According to Nu's information, Berkshire Hathaway initially participated in a $500 million G-round financing in 2021, followed by an 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 Fortune magazine's request for comment.

According to the document of the U.S. 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, worth nearly $1.2 billion. Therefore, Buffett and Berkshire Hathaway are benefiting from a business he once claimed not to understand.

"I have already caused a lot of trouble because of things I thought I understood," Buffett said in an interview with CNBC in 2018. "So why would I go long or short on something I don't understand at all?"

As of Wednesday noon, the stock price of Nu Holdings has risen by nearly 34% year-on-year. Now, Berkshire Hathaway appears to be making investments related to Crypto Assets, and Buffett may need to rephrase his previous comments that Cryptocurrency will not have an impact.

"If you told me you had all the bitcoins in the world and offered to sell them to me for $25, I wouldn't take them, because what would I do with them?" Buffett said at the 2022 Berkshire Hathaway shareholders meeting. "I would have to sell them to you, no matter what. It wouldn'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 statements 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 heavy investment in popular stocks when the market is performing well.

"Berkshire Hathaway has been successful over the years precisely because it has maintained a boring approach," said Mayer Schwartz, Managing Director of boutique investment bank Keefe, Bruyette & Woods, in an interview with Fortune magazine's Alana Botros in November 2024.