If You Invested $1,000 In Bitcoin When Warren Buffett Called It ‘Rat Poison Squared,’ Here’s How Much You’d Have Now By Benzinga
Benzinga – Leading investor Warren Buffett has bought companies he’s loved and invested in stocks of undervalued companies with strong cash flow. One thing Buffett hasn’t been a fan of in recent years, however, is cryptocurrency.
What Happened: Buffett has been an opponent of leading cryptocurrency Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) for years and was even named Bitcoin enemy number one by entrepreneur Peter Thiel.
In January 2018, Buffett warned investors about investing in cryptocurrency.
“In terms of cryptocurrencies, generally, I can say with almost certainty that they will come to a bad ending,” Buffett said at the time. “If I could buy a five-year put on every one of the cryptocurrencies, I’d be glad to do it but I would never short a dime’s worth.”
Buffett, the 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 Berkshire Vice Chairman Charlie Munger‘s thoughts that Bitcoin is “rat poison,” Buffett told CNBC anchor Becky Quick that the cryptocurrency is “probably rat poison squared.”
.@WarrenBuffett on bitcoin just now: “it’s probably rat poison squared.” #brk2018
— Becky Quick (@BeckyQuick) May 5, 2018
Buffett, who is also known as the “Oracle of Omaha,” has said that he wouldn’t buy Bitcoin even if it dropped to $25.
While the billionaire investor has not bought cryptocurrencies and has continued to speak out against them, he does own shares of a company that has bet on Bitcoin and other leading cryptocurrencies.
As Benzinga previously reported, Buffett and Berkshire Hathaway are shareholders in Nu Holdings (NYSE: NU), a Latin American digital bank. Nu Holdings is a crypto friendly bank that has launched several cryptocurrency products and is committed to allocating a portion of its cash to Bitcoin.
Related Link: How To Buy Bitcoin
Investing $1,000 in Bitcoin: While Buffett said he wouldn’t invest in Bitcoin even if it hit $25, some investors have chosen to allocate a portion of their investments or holdings in the leading cryptocurrency.
Bitcoin traded between $9,695.12 and $9,964.50 on May 5, 2018, the day of Buffett’s “rat poison squared” comment.
An investor could have purchased 0.1004 BTC at the coin’s high price of the day.
The $1,000 investment would be worth $2,839.73 today based on a price of $28,284.20 for Bitcoin at the time of writing.
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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. The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (NYSE: SPY), which 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 leading cryptocurrency.
While Buffett has said he wouldn’t touch cryptocurrency even if it hit $25 per coin, investors who bought when the legendary investor made his quote would be glad that they did.
Read Next: ‘Just Say No’ To Putting Bitcoin In Retirement Account: Charlie Munger And Warren Buffett Still Not Fans Of Crypto
Photo: Asa Mathat/ Fortune Live Media via flickr
© 2023 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
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