Author: Sydney Lake Fortune; Compiler: Liam

On January 23, according to the latest report from Fortune magazine, Warren Buffett has never concealed His distaste for cryptocurrencies. But Berkshire Hathaway has invested millions of dollars in Nu Holdings Ltd., a Brazilian bank related to cryptocurrency, and the bank’s stock price has risen 34% year-on-year.

Berkshire Hathaway CEO and Chairman Warren Buffett has repeatedly stated his stance on cryptocurrencies: He is not a crypto Fans of currency.

At Berkshire Hathaway's 2018 annual shareholder meeting, Buffett said that Bitcoin "may be rat poison squared."

In 2018, Buffett told CNBC: "As far as cryptocurrencies are concerned, I can almost certainly say that they are not going to end well. We don't hold any. Cryptocurrencies, we are not short any cryptocurrencies, we will never take a position in any cryptocurrencies." But recent reports show that Berkshire. Al Hathaway and some of its investment managers may be becoming more tolerant of cryptocurrencies.

Berkshire Hathaway has invested in Brazilian digital banking company Nu Holdings, which has its own cryptocurrency platform and supports the cryptocurrency market. Buffett's company initially invested $500 million in a 2021 Series G round, and later invested $250 million, according to Nu.

In 2022, Nu launched its cryptocurrency platform Nubank Cripto, initially supporting Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Polygon. The platform now includes Uniswap and Chainlink and allows users to send, receive and convert cryptocurrencies.

Nu Holdings did not immediately respond to Fortune's request for comment.

Berkshire Hathaway will reduce its holdings in Nu as of December 2022, according to SEC filings 0.1% in the fourth quarter on the 31st increased to 0.4% in the third quarter of fiscal 2024.

Representatives for Berkshire Hathaway and Buffett did not immediately respond to Fortune's request for comment. That means Berkshire Hathaway owned more than 86 million shares of Nu, worth nearly $1.2 billion, as of the end of the third quarter of fiscal 2025. That means Buffett and Berkshire Hathaway are benefiting from a business he has claimed to know little about in the past.

Buffett said in an interview with CNBC in 2018: "I've gotten into enough trouble with the things I thought I knew. Why do I To be long or short on something you know nothing about?"

As of noon on Wednesday, Nu Holdings' stock price was up nearly 34% year-over-year. Now that Berkshire Hathaway appears to be making cryptocurrency-related investments, Buffett may need to reconsider his previous remarks that cryptocurrencies won't change the status quo.

"If you told me you owned all the Bitcoins in the world and sold them to me for $25, I wouldn't accept it because I would use What does it do?" Buffett said at the 2022 Berkshire Hathaway shareholder meeting. No matter what, I have to sell it back to you. It won't do anything.

However, it is worth noting that Berkshire Hathaway's overall investment strategy tends to be more conservative. Berkshire Hathaway held more than $325 billion in cash and equivalents at the end of 2024, according to the company's quarterly financial statements, but most of that was in U.S. Treasury securities. That means Berkshire Hathaway is staying away from investing heavily in popular stocks, even when the market is on a winning streak.

In November 2024, Meyer Shields, managing director of boutique investment bank Keefe, Bruyette & Woods, told Fortune Magazine: Berkshire has succeeded by staying solid this way for decades. ”