Source: Financial Associated Press

Stock God Buffett has always been cautious about cryptocurrencies. At the 2018 Berkshire Hathaway shareholder meeting, Buffett once said that Bitcoin may be "an upgraded version of rat poison."

However, the rapid appreciation of Bitcoin and other tokens in the past two years may Breaking the stereotype of the stock god. According to documents, Berkshire Hathaway has already invested in Nu Holdings, a Brazilian digital bank linked to cryptocurrency, and made a fortune.

Nu has its own encryption platform Nubank Cripto, which initially supports tokens such as Bitcoin and Ethereum. At the end of last year, the platform integrated Uniswap and Chainlink, further expanding its business scope and allowing users to send, receive and convert cryptocurrencies.

According to Nu, Berkshire Hathaway initially invested in it in the G round of financing in 2021, with an investment amount of US$500 million, and subsequently injected an additional 250 million. Dollar.

According to documents released by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Berkshire Hathaway’s shareholding ratio in Nu increased from 0.1% in the fourth quarter of 2022 to 0.4% in the third quarter of 2024. , worth nearly $1.2 billion.

Buffett plausibly said in 2018 that he kept running into obstacles on things he thought he understood, so he was even more unwilling to act blindly in areas he did not understand. He also said at the time that Berkshire Hathaway would not hold any cryptocurrencies, nor would it be short any cryptocurrencies, and the company would never take a position in them.

However, this oath has been loosened. As of noon on Wednesday, Nu's stock price was up nearly 34% year-on-year, which means that Berkshire has made a lot of money from this company that the stock god claims not to understand.

Interestingly, judging from the results, Berkshire Hathaway's investment in Nu was a successful transaction, but in the process, Berkshire's decision-making did not look confident. The financial report for the third quarter of 2024 showed that Berkshire reduced its holdings of Nu shares for the first time in that quarter, at a time when Nu stock prices were experiencing violent fluctuations.

To some extent, Berkshire Hathaway’s attempts in the encryption industry are very cautious, but this is also consistent with Berkshire Hathaway’s general investment policy.

As of the end of 2024, Berkshire Hathaway holds more than $325 billion in cash and equivalents, but most of it is U.S. Treasury bonds, which means that even when the stock market has a winning streak, Not investing heavily in popular stocks.

Meyer Shields, managing director of boutique investment bank Keefe, Bruyette & Woods, said that for decades, Berkshire has achieved success in this boring way.