On June 3, there was a significant but temporary drop in the stock price of Berkshire Hathaway’s BRK.A due to a technical glitch on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). This glitch caused Berkshire shares to appear as if they had fallen by almost 100%, leading the NYSE to halt trading in several prominent stocks to fix the issue.
At the end of the trading day, the NYSE announced that it would cancel the erroneous trades resulting from the technical glitch. However, this incident has drawn attention to the fact that Berkshire Hathaway’s stock has significantly underperformed Bitcoin (BTC) over the past decade, even without any glitches.
In fact, Berkshire Hathaway’s stock has dropped by nearly 100% compared to Bitcoin since 2015, going from approximately 1,000 BTC to 9.15 BTC.
What’s interesting is that Bitcoin’s performance against Berkshire Hathaway’s stock and its top holdings is in stark contrast to the critical view of Bitcoin held by Berkshire Hathaway owner Warren Buffett, who famously referred to it as “rat poison squared.”
According to simulations from the Nakamoto Portfolio, even allocating just 1% of Bitcoin to Berkshire Hathaway’s existing portfolio, which includes top holdings like Apple, Bank of America, and American Express, could have increased returns from 214% to 240% over a five-year period.
Furthermore, allocating 5% to 10% of the portfolio to Bitcoin could have achieved impressive returns of 328% to 410% for Buffett during the same period.
Despite Buffett’s skepticism, Bitcoin has become one of the most valuable assets worldwide. As of June 4, Bitcoin’s net market capitalization was approximately $1.36 trillion, making it the ninth-largest asset by valuation. Interestingly, BTC’s market cap is higher than that of Meta Platforms and Berkshire Hathaway, which have market caps of $1.20 billion and $899.36 million, respectively.
It is likely that Bitcoin’s valuation will continue to increase in the future as it gains recognition as an alternative safe haven asset to gold, which currently has a market cap of $15.8 trillion. In fact, the price of gold, similar to Berkshire Hathaway stock, has dropped over 99% compared to Bitcoin since 2015.
According to veteran trader Peter Brandt, Bitcoin is expected to grow by 230% and reach a new record high of 100 ounces of gold per BTC. If this happens, the cryptocurrency may surpass silver’s market cap of $1.68 trillion.
Please note that this article does not provide investment advice or recommendations. Investing and trading involve risks, and readers should conduct their own research before making any decisions.