Bitcoin News Today: Berkshire Misses $850M in Bitcoin Gains Amid 16.85% YTD Return

Berkshire Hathaway’s conservative investment strategy, led by Warren Buffett, appears to have left the conglomerate with a significant opportunity cost in 2025 as Bitcoin outperformed both its stock and top holdings. According to an analysis, had just 5% of Berkshire’s massive $100.49 billion in cash and cash equivalents been allocated to Bitcoin at the start of the year, it could have generated over $850 million in unrealized gains based on BTC’s 16.85% year-to-date return [1].

Bitcoin’s performance contrasted sharply with Berkshire’s own stock, which rose only 3.55% year-to-date as of August 5, lagging behind the S&P 500’s 7.51% gain. This gap widened amid Buffett’s public dismissal of Bitcoin as “rat poison squared,” a stance that has remained unchallenged even as the crypto asset gained broader institutional acceptance and saw strong ETF inflows in the first half of 2025 [1].

The missed gains could have helped mitigate Berkshire’s $4.60 billion in equity method investment losses for the year’s first half, including a $5 billion impairment on its Kraft Heinz stake. With no stock buybacks conducted in the first half of the year, the firm may have had fewer tools to cushion its financial setbacks [1].

In addition, Bitcoin has outperformed Berkshire’s top three stock holdings—Apple, American Express, and Coca-Cola—so far in 2025. This highlights how the conglomerate’s traditional asset allocations have struggled to keep pace with the performance of digital assets amid a macroeconomic climate increasingly favoring hard assets [1].

Greg Abel, Buffett’s successor as CEO, has not yet indicated any shift in the company’s position on Bitcoin or crypto assets, leaving open the question of whether Berkshire will rethink its strategy in the future [1].

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