lead investor Warren Buffett He bought companies he loved and invested in undervalued stocks with strong cash flows. One thing Buffett hasn’t been a fan of in recent years, though, is cryptocurrency.
What happened: Buffett has been an opponent of major cryptocurrencies Bitcoin BTC/USD for years and it was also named bitcoin Enemy Number One by Entrepreneur Peter Thiel.
In January 2018, Buffett warning Investors about investing in cryptocurrency.
“In terms of cryptocurrencies, in general, I can say with almost certainty that they will come to a bad end,” Buffett said at the time. “If I could buy a five-year put on every single cryptocurrency, I would be happy to do it but I would never lose a dime.”
Buffett, Chairman of Berkshire Hathaway Inc (NYSE: BRK-A)(NYSE: BRK-B), took things a step further a few months later in an interview with CNBC.
reiterating the vice chairman of Berkshire Charlie MungerBuffett Tells CNBC Anchor That Bitcoin Is “Rat Poison” becky quick Cryptocurrencies “maybe rat poison pays off.”
Buffett, who is also known as the “Oracle of Omaha”, has said that he will not buy bitcoin even if it drops to $25.
While the billionaire investor hasn’t bought cryptocurrencies and continues to speak out against them, he does own shares in a company that has bet on bitcoin and other major cryptocurrencies.
As Benzinga reported earlierBuffett and Berkshire Hathaway are shareholders Nu Holdings New, a Latin American digital bank. Nu Holdings is a crypto friendly bank that has launched several crypto products and committed to allocating a portion of its cash to bitcoin.
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Investing $1,000 in Bitcoin: While Buffett said he would not invest in bitcoin even if it reached $25, some investors have chosen to allocate a portion of their investments or holdings to the leading cryptocurrency.
Bitcoin traded between $9,695.12 and $9,964.50 on May 5, 2018, the day Buffett’s “rat poison paid off” comment.
An investor could have bought 0.1004 BTC at the coin’s high price of the day.
A $1,000 investment would be worth $2,839.73 today based on the price of $28,284.20 for bitcoin at the time of writing.
This represents a return of 184% since Buffett’s comments.
For comparison, shares of Berkshire Hathaway are up 57.5% over the same time period. SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust Spywhich tracks the S&P 500 index, is up 53.5% over the same time period.
As investors can see, bitcoin has outperformed both the S&P 500 and Berkshire Hathaway since Buffett’s now famous quote about the dominant cryptocurrency.
While Buffett has said he wouldn’t touch the cryptocurrency even if it reached $25 per coin, investors will be glad he did when the legendary investor made his bid.
Read further: ‘Just Say No’ to Putting Bitcoin in Retirement Account: Charlie Munger and Warren Buffett Still Not a Fan of Crypto
Photo: Asa Math/ Fortune Live Media via flickr