Warren Buffett, known as a Bitcoin skeptic, always finds opportunities to air his opinions on the cryptocurrency industry. With such a negative stance, Buffet refused to buy Bitcoin even on a day in 2018 when the price of Bitcoin was $15,000.
Predicting doomsday, Buffett said, “When it comes to cryptocurrencies in general, I can almost certainly say that 2018 will end badly.”
Five years later, the price of Bitcoin is over $50,000, with an all-time high of $69,000, and market expectations for this year after the halving are over $100,000. But Buffett remains hawkish.
However, not all followers of Buffet like to follow his rules. Although his distaste is well known, his holding company, Berkshire Hathaway, is taking a different approach. Let's talk about Nu Holdings (NYSE:NU). After an initial $500 million investment in Latin America's digital-first giant NuBank in 2021, Buffett or one of his advisors increased the stake to $1 billion.
Nu Holdings, Warren’s $1 billion indirect bet on cryptocurrencies
Nu Holdings (NYSE: NU), originally known as Nubank, revolutionized Latin America's banking sector when it was launched in 2013. Leveraging its market position to take on traditional banks that charge high fees, Nubank has introduced a digital-first approach. It provides affordable financial services through technology and quickly gained a huge customer base.
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Founded by David Velez, an experienced entrepreneur with a background in venture capitalism at Sequoia Capital, Nubank's digital-first strategy poses a formidable challenge to traditional banks plagued by outdated and costly operating models .
Nu Bank offers Bitcoin and more
Among its multiple innovative products is Nucripto, which will launch in 2022 and allow users to trade a variety of cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin and Ethereum. Nucripto gained over 1 million active users within a month of its debut.
This strategic position not only highlights Nubank's competitiveness, but also Berkshire Hathaway's foresight in recognizing the potential of digital banking and cryptocurrency services in transforming the financial industry.
Although Nubank's main revenue still comes from traditional financial products, Nubank's foray into the cryptocurrency space marks the company as an important player in Latin America's digital currency market. The introduction of its own digital currency, Nucoin, and the introduction of cryptocurrencies such as Polkadot and Avalanche highlight its growing influence in the region.
In many ways, NuBank is not Buffett's first choice to run counter to financial ideology. For example, Buffett has avoided technology stocks for decades and has a long history with banks.Berkshire Hathaway owns shares american bank and citygroupfor example, wells fargo Stocked for years.
