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- Jim Cramer told CNBC on Tuesday that he believes it’s “almost irresponsible” for companies not to consider owning bitcoin.
- The “Mad Money” host said he personally owns bitcoin and advised investors to “own some cash, own some gold, own some bitcoin.”
- The bullish comments comes as bitcoin tested all-time highs of over $48,000 per coin Tuesday morning.
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Jim Cramer told investors it’s “almost irresponsible” for companies not to own bitcoin in an interview with CNBC’s Andrew Sorkin on Tuesday.
“As far as a way to be able to have a pastiche of things to do with your cash, I’m all for it.” the host of “Mad Money” and former hedge fund manager told Sorkin. “I think it’s almost irresponsible not to include it. Every treasurer should be going to boards of directors and saying should we put a small portion of our cash in bitcoin.”
Cramer argued the currency could be used as a hedge against an equity portfolio or inflation, saying, “it seems to be an interesting way to hedge against the rest of the environment, nice hedge against fiat currency.”
Cramer added that he personally owns bitcoin and believes in the validity of the cryptocurrency, noting there are a lot of promoters of bitcoin but not a lot of sellers at this time.
Still, the former hedge fund manager said, "you have to have some kind of hedge on it. Because if you take it and it goes down, I think that you're gonna end up saying why did I use bitcoin when I could actually transact in dollars."
Bitcoin shot to record highs on Tuesday of over $48,000 per coin after news broke that Tesla invested $1.5 billion in the digital asset on Monday.
Tesla's big announcement led Michael Novogratz to tell Bloomberg TV that he thought bitcoin's price could more than double to $100,000 by the end of 2021 if more big-name firms get behind the currency.
"You're going to see every company in America do the same thing [as Tesla]," Novogratz, the founder of crypto investment firm Galaxy Digital, told Bloomberg. "Young people are buying into the future, and they see cryptocurrencies - bitcoin and other cryptos - as their currencies."
Jim Cramer's statements add yet another big name to the list of crypto bulls. The exuberance surrounding cryptocurrencies is leading some to worry about excessive greed leading to inflated asset prices, however.
A "crypto fear and greed" index, published by Alternative.me, rose from 83 to 95 on Tuesday, suggesting a level of "Extreme Greed" in the market.
For now, crypto bulls are leading the market and bringing in new investors. According to data from Blockchain.com, there are now more than 70 million bitcoin wallets, an increase of some 25 million from a year ago.