One of his investments, a Berkshire Hathaway Inc. NYSE: BRK - B CEO Warren Buffett, has a stake inBitcoin, which was identified as the "Ethereum - enemy number one" earlier this year by Peter Thiel.
What happened in June 2021 when Berkshire Hathaway invested $500 million in Brazilian digital bank Nubank. When the company went public as Nu Holdings NU in December 2021, Buffett s Berkshire Hathaway added to its position in the digital bank.
For months, many have pointed out Nubank as a friendly bank that could give Buffett exposure to the trading of cryptocurrencies. According to a report by CoinDesk, the bank's parent company is allocating 1% of its cash toBTC and ETHUSD while Nubank is launching cryptocurrencies trading of BTC and ETHUSD for millions of users.
The trading platform is expected to be available to all users by the end of July. There are a number of additional cryptocurrencies that are expected to be added to the platform in the future.
Nubank has provided several ETFs for its customers that previously gave them exposure to cryptocurrencies.
In Latin America, there is no doubt that cryptocurrencies are a growing trend, one that we have been following closely and believe will have a transformal impact on the region, said David Velez, CEO of Nubank.
Why It is Important: Berkshire Hathaway owns a stake in Nu Holdings that is worth over $1 billion.
Buffett and Berkshire Vice Chairman Charlie Munger have been outspoken critics of the use ofcryptocurrencies, includingBitcoin.
Buffett called the poison of Bitcoins. Buffett told Berkshire shareholders that he wouldn't buy Bitcoins even if it dropped to $25.
Munger spoke aboutBitcoin at the annual shareholder conference.
When you have your retirement account and your friendly advisor suggests that you put all the money into bitcoins, just say no, Munger said.
Berkshire Hathaway could have indirect exposure toBitcoin and cryptocurrencies as more companies become more crypt-friendly through its wide range of investments. Berkshire Hathaway is a large shareholder in Visa Inc V, which gives Buffett partial ownership of a CryptoPunk NFT.
Photo: created with an image from Aaron Friedman on Flickr.