- Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway bought 107 million shares of fintech firm Nu Holdings
- Berkshire Hathaway invested $750M in Nu in 2021
- Some of Nubank’s units offer 1.35 million customers crypto-related services
Despite being a long-time critic of cryptocurrency, Warren Buffett has made a lot of money from holdings in a crypto-friendly bank, Cointelegraph reported. In 2021, Berkshire Hathaway bought 107 million shares of Nu Holdings, the Brazil-based owner of the crypto-friendly Nubank.
He hasn’t sold a share in Nu since
Buffett’s company invested a total of $750 million in Nu Holdings that year. A recent earnings report showed Berkshire hasn’t sold a single share since.
Nu’s share price has gained 106% since 2021. The position was worth more than a billion at its peak in February 2022, at which time the tycoon’s profit was $250 million.
Nubank offers more than 1M customers crypto services
Some of Nubank’s units offer 1.35 million customers crypto-related services, which has rendered the bank crypto-friendly. Among those services are the eponymous digital financial services platform that offers BTC and Ether trading and Easynvest, a trading platform that offers a Bitcoin ETF product. There is also a Nubank loyalty token running on the Polygon blockchain.
In May last year, Nu Holdings allocated 1% of its cash reserves to Bitcoin, emphasizing that they were convinced of Bitcoin’s current and future potential in disrupting regional financial services.
Nubank is the biggest fintech platform in South America, with 80 million customers in Brazil alone.
Nu outperformed all Berkshire holdings
Berkshire’s other top holdings, Apple and Amazon, underperformed Nu by far. Apple is up 36% and Amazon has gained 54.65% YTD. Apple accounted for around 45% of Berkshire’s $354 billion investment portfolio as of September 2023, making it the company’s biggest holding by far.
Nu has also done better than Berkshire’s own stock, which is up by less than 10% YTD.
Bitcoin and Nu both gained 106% YTD
Bitcoin and Nu’s YTD gains are exactly the same. Bitcoin decoupled from the stock market this month. It has caught up with Nu regardless, or perhaps precisely for this reason. The crypto bull market could be behind both developments, but not all experts are certain. Some insiders claim Bitcoin ETF expectations are driving Bitcoin price gains.
