Legendary investor Warren Buffett has been an outspoken critic of cryptocurrencies for years. But now he may face a dilemma because Berkshire HathawaySome companies that own shares have invested in cryptocurrency growth, which could cause Buffett to change his attitude or be forced to sell those positions in his portfolio.
Visa, in which Buffett owns a large stake, made headlines on Monday when the company paid 49.5 ethernet workshops ($150000) for a NFT work of art, CryptoPunk 7610. Visa's move could help legalise NFT as it marks a large, well-known company betting on a non-financial product asset with rising valuations.
Visa has said it wants to "have a place at the negotiating table" for NFT growth. The company has been developing cryptocurrency services and products.
Buffett is one of Visa's largest shareholders, holding 9.98 million 7460 shares of the company at the end of the second quarter, equivalent to 0.59% of the outstanding shares. Visa is Berkshire Hathaway's 16th largest position, with positions worth about $2.3 billion.
Buffett has always taken a negative view of cryptocurrency, saying that Bitcoin "may be the square of rat poison" and is doomed to a bad ending.
However, Buffett is relatively silent about the emergence of Ethernet Square and NFT. If he publicly opposes the two investments, it means criticizing the company, which makes up a lot of weight in his portfolio.
In addition to Visa, Berkshire Hathaway has a stake in Nubank, a Brazilian financial technology start-up, which also supports cryptocurrencies and now offers bitcoin exposure through an ETF with a section on its website devoted to cryptocurrencies.
What would Buffett do? Will he change his attitude towards cryptocurrency and remain silent about the company he invests in turning to cryptocurrency growth projects, or will he start liquidating stocks in companies such as Visa because of his aversion to cryptocurrency?