Former hedge fund manager\u00a0Jim Cramer\u00a0explained on Monday (June 21)\u00a0why he recently sold almost all of his remaining Bitcoin holdings.<\/p>\n
Cramer is the host of CNBC show \u201cMad Money w\/ Jim Cramer\u201c. He is also a co-anchor of CNBC\u2019s \u201cSquawk on the Street\u201c, as well as a co-founder of financial news website\u00a0TheStreet.<\/p>\n
How Jim Cramer Got Into Bitcoin<\/strong><\/p>\n On 10 September 2020, Anthony Pompliano (aka \u201cPomp\u201d), who is a co-founder of Morgan Creek Digital as well as the host of \u201cThe Pomp Podcast\u201d, told his almost 370K followers on Twitter that he had managed to convince Cramer to buy some Bitcoin (apparently during a recent podcast interview with Cramer).<\/p>\n Then on 11 December 2020, Cramer\u00a0told\u00a0Katherine Ross, a correspondent for TheStreet, that he had just bought more Bitcoin, and proceeded to explained why:<\/p>\n \u201cYeah, I just felt that back at $17[k] seemed like a decent level, and I will buy \u2014 like I usually do \u2014 as something comes down. I\u2019ll get bigger and bigger and bigger.<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cI just think that you want to diversify into all sorts of asset classes. I have gold. I\u2019m going to diversify into some Bitcoin \u2014 not a big position for me \u2014 but it\u2019s certainly important to be diversified, and Bitcoin is an asset and I want to have a balance of assets.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n Well, judging from Cramer\u2019s comments in a recent interview, it appears that Cramer may have invested more money in Bitcoin.<\/p>\n The interviewer was Pomp, who had invited Cramer to appear for the second time on his podcast (Cramer\u2019s first appearance on the Pomp Podcast was in\u00a0episode #383, which was released on 14 September 2020).<\/p>\n Below are some highlights from Cramer\u2019s comments about Bitcoin during this interview (episode #517\u00a0of Pomp Podcast).<\/p>\n The interview started with Cramer thanking Pomp for making him \u201ca ton of money\u201d:<\/p>\n \u201cI did exactly what you told me\u2026 I went and called my CFO and I said \u2018listen, I just talked to this guy Pomp\u2019\u2026 And I said [that] I want half a million dollars in this [Bitcoin]\u2026 you can buy it over a couple of days, but I don\u2019t want any longer that because this guy is the authentic deal\u2026 I want to thank you\u2026 because it happened\u2026 it happened just like you said. It also happened much faster than you said\u2026 I am very grateful.<\/em>\u201c<\/p>\n Cramer then talked about his disappointment with gold:<\/p>\n \u201cI have for years said that you should have gold\u2026 but gold let me down.<\/em>\u201c<\/p>\n Pomp then asked if Cramer thinks people are going to \u201cdrop gold and buy Bitcoin.\u201d<\/p>\n Cramer replied:<\/p>\n \u201cIf they listen to me, they\u2019re going to drop half of their gold. I\u2019ve been saying 10% in gold since 1983. And now I say 5% in gold, 5% in Bitcoin.<\/em>\u201c<\/p>\n However, perhaps, the most interesting part of the interview was near the end when Cramer talked a little abut his \u201cboom thesis.\u201d In short, he said that in the U.S. he expected to see in the second half of 2021 the kind of economic boom that we witnessed in the 1990s, and that he believes this will be even \u201cbetter\u201d than what happened in 1946 (which was the start of a massive economic expansion that ended in 1953).<\/p>\n As for how his boom thesis relates to Bitcoin, Cramer said:<\/p>\n \u201cIf my boom thesis is true\u2026 you are crazy not to have Bitcoin\u2026 I don\u2019t care if it is $70,000 right now. I\u2019d be saying the same thing\u2026 The boom means Bitcoin.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n On March 3, Cramer\u00a0talked\u00a0on CNBC\u2019s \u201cSquawk on the Street\u201d about the upcoming Post-Covid that he expects to see in the U.S. in the second half of 2021:<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s going to be a boom here in this country, and I don\u2019t think people are ready for it. When I speak to the pharmaceutical companies, they think it\u2019s going to be a boom. Transportation companies think it\u2019s going to be a boom. \u2026 This may be a sky\u2019s-the-limit situation.<\/em>\u201c<\/p>\n https:\/\/youtube.com\/watch?v=oqfAtMKu1wo%3Ffeature%3Doembed<\/p>\n The First Time Cramer Announced Sale of Some of His Bitcoin Holdings<\/strong><\/p>\n On April 15, Cramer revealed, while\u00a0talking\u00a0to CNBC\u2019s \u201cSquawk on the Street\u201d co-host David Faber, that as the Bitcoin price has been going up over the past few months, he has been taking profits by selling some of his BTC holdings.<\/p>\n He said:<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve decided to become an apostate\u2026 After you and I had that discussion of no-one ever selling Bitcoin\u2026 so I bought a lot of Bitcoin at $12,000\u2026 I know people gonna be angry me, but I paid off a mortgage yesterday with it. I don\u2019t know. Is that dangerous, David? I actually sold some\u2026 from from the chart, David, I may be the only natural seller, but it was so great to pay off a mortgage\u2026 it was like phony money paid for real money, what do you think?<\/em>\u201c<\/p>\n He then excitedly provided further details:<\/p>\n \u201cI sold all the way up\u2026 then I took that money\u2026 and David I paid off a mortgage, which was real money I got from a bank\u2026 so I now own a house lock, stock, and barrel because I bought this currency. So, David, I don\u2019t know, I think I won.<\/em>\u201c<\/p>\n https:\/\/youtube.com\/watch?v=mIPaOLdBFRQ%3Ffeature%3Doembed<\/p>\n Cramer\u2019s Says He Sold Most of His Remaining Bitcoin Holdings<\/strong><\/p>\n Cramer\u2019s latest comments about Bitcoin were made yesterday on CNBC\u2019s \u201cSquawk on the Street\u201d, where Cramer said:<\/p>\n \u201cTom DeMark, who\u2019s been the best. is saying\u2026 it\u2019s got to hold $30,000, but there\u2019s two headwinds, and one is I just think that when the PRC goes after something, they tend to have their way\u2026. but then I keep thinking about the FBI and ransomware and what happened with Colonial [Pipeline].<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cWe know [about] Colonial. How many have we not found out [aboiut]? We know that then people must be paying ransomware. So how about if the FBI goes to see the IRS and goes to the Justice Department [and] says \u2018we can\u2019t control this, then they refer to the Federal Reserve. Federal Reserve doesn\u2019t want Bitcoin. Then they decide\u2026 no more ransomware\u2026 <\/em><\/p>\n \u201cInstead of thinking that Bitcoin should go up if it\u2019s outlawed or if it\u2019s made tougher to be mined, Bitcoin goes down as if people are saying I gotta redeem\u2026 How else could it be going down?\u2026 It should obviously go up unless there is a worldwide redemption\u2026 and Tether is deeply involved\u2026 and they have not really told us what kind of commercial paper backs them and yet they are one of the largest buyers and yet I can\u2019t find anyone, any desk, that does business with them.<\/em><\/p>\n