Bitcoin News Today: Berkshire's Cash Strategy Costs $850M in Hypothetical Bitcoin Gains

Berkshire Hathaway’s cash-heavy strategy has drawn attention amid Bitcoin’s strong performance in 2025, with analysts estimating the firm could have earned $850 million in unrealized gains from a hypothetical 5% allocation to BTC [1]. The company reported a headline profit of $12.3 billion for the second quarter of 2025, but this was overshadowed by a $4.6 billion equity method investment loss, primarily due to a $5 billion impairment on its stake in Kraft Heinz [1].

The firm’s conservative approach is reflected in its $100.49 billion cash holdings, mostly in short-term Treasury bills and low-yield instruments [1]. Meanwhile, Bitcoin has surged 16.85% year-to-date through August 5, 2025, outperforming both Berkshire’s stock and the S&P 500 [1]. Berkshire’s shares have gained only 3.55% in the same period, compared to 7.51% for the S&P 500 and a much stronger 16.85% for Bitcoin [1].

This performance gap has amplified scrutiny over Buffett’s long-standing skepticism of Bitcoin, which he has dismissed as “rat poison squared,” citing its lack of yield and intrinsic value [1]. Despite the market environment favoring hard assets and the rise of institutional Bitcoin ETFs, Berkshire has not allocated any capital to crypto and has yet to conduct stock buybacks in the first half of 2025 [1].

The missed opportunity is further highlighted when comparing Bitcoin’s returns to those of Berkshire’s top three stock holdings—Apple, American Express, and Coca-Cola—all of which have underperformed the cryptocurrency year-to-date [1]. Buffett’s successor, Greg Abel, has not publicly expressed support for crypto assets, leaving Berkshire’s investment strategy aligned with Buffett’s traditional value-driven approach [1].

Berkshire’s Q2 operating earnings fell 3.8% year-over-year to $11.16 billion, and its net income declined 59% to $12.37 billion [2]. The results underscore the trade-offs inherent in maintaining a defensive, cash-centric portfolio in a market increasingly favoring high-growth assets like Bitcoin [1].

Source: [1] Warren Buffett misses $850M in Bitcoin gains by sticking to cash in 2025 (https://cointelegraph.com/news/warren-buffett-misses-850-million-bitcoin-gains-cash-2025)

[2] MLQ.ai | Stocks (https://mlq.ai/news/)