Warren Buffett’s company has made some investments with Nubank which is exposed to another company that has BTC ETF. Has Buffett changed his mind about Bitcoin which he called “rat poison squared” in 2018?

Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway is moving towards investments with fintechs that have affinity to Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies as the conglomerate drops some of its holdings with Visa and Mastercard.

Warren Buffet’s company, Berkshire Hathaway has invested $1 billion in the stocks of Nubank, a prominent Brazillian fintech. The revelation of the Class A stock investment was made by CT after the company filed necessary disclosures on February 14.

Moving Towards Bitcoin Exposed Companies?

The filings also showed that Berkshire Hathaway dropped portions of its holdings with Visa and Mastercard, an indication that it is moving towards fintechs that compete with the payment processing credit card companies.

Nubank is popular among Bitcoin investors and the company is among the few fintechs that Buffett’s companies have shown interest in as they increasingly look towards exposure to cryptocurrencies.

This is a surprising shift from the stance of Buffett, who in 2018 referred to BTC as “rat poison”. His cautious approach to the emerging assets class is well-known and the policy shift of his company may be a reflection of a change of opinion from Buffett.

The details of the investment shows that the company invested $500 million in Nubank in July, 2021. The investment in Nubank resulted in a $150 million profit after the startup was listed in the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in December.

Even though a fintech, Nubank is not directly exposed to Bitcoin but its exposure is through its acquisition of Easynvest, a trading platform that has offered exchange trading funds (ETF) since June 2021.

A Bitcoin-Friendly Fintech?

That seems to be the limit of exposure that Nubank has towards bitcoins. According to some users, the company does not deal directly with bitcoins and it is not even possible to buy the asset with its credit cards.

Reports from Brazil show that Nubank, even with its Easynvest acquisition still shields its traditional investors from direct involvement with cryptocurrencies. The bank has been reported to have blocked deposits to cryptocurrency exchanges such as Binance in recent weeks.

Based on the antecedence of Buffett and Nubank, some crypto enthusiasts are of the opinion that Buffett’s involvement with fintech is nothing to celebrate. According to Klugkas, a Twitter user,

“You have to understand that neither this bank nor Buffet is bitcoin friendly. They just get in position to fight bitcoin more effectively. Stop celebrating it.”

It is left to be seen if Buffett is actually interested in crypto investment or still considers it rat poison squared.