- Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway bought about $1 billion worth of shares in a company whose business model supports Bitcoin.
- The veteran investor’s firm also sold Visa and Mastercard stock for $1.8 billion and $1.3 billion, respectively.
Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway has made a significant move into businesses tied to Bitcoin by purchasing roughly $1 billion in shares of Brazilian fintech Nubank.
According to a securities filing disclosed on February 14, Berkshire acquired shares of the Brazilian digital bank during the most recent quarter, spending about $1 billion to obtain Class A common stock in the fintech company.
The filing also showed that Berkshire sold more than $1 billion in Visa and Mastercard shares. In the data from the final quarter of 2021, the investment giant trimmed $1.8 billion worth of its Visa holdings and $1.3 billion worth of Mastercard stock.
Nubank is listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and made its U.S. debut on December 9, 2021. At the time of its initial public offering, the company was valued at $45 billion, making it the largest digital challenger bank by market capitalization.
NU shares represent approximately 0.3% of Berkshire Hathaway’s portfolio.
Known as the “Oracle of Omaha,” Buffett has long criticized Bitcoin and the broader cryptocurrency sector, once calling Bitcoin “rat poison.” He has not invested directly in Bitcoin, but Berkshire now holds billions of dollars in shares of companies increasingly exposed to the crypto industry.
Those holdings include major U.S. banks such as Bank of America, U.S. Bancorp and BNY Mellon. Berkshire also purchased nearly $1 billion worth of Activision Blizzard stock, a company Microsoft Corporation recently agreed to acquire.