Warren Buffett holds the record of 334 billion dollars in cash—And the reason why he still ignores Bitcoin

Warren Buffett, the Chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, has once again drawn attention from around the world. His company currently holds a record cash balance of $334 billion—the largest amount ever recorded for a public company. So why is Buffett comfortable sitting on such a huge pile of cash? And why does he continue to reject Bitcoin, a digital asset that many praise as "digital gold"? The only billionaire in the Top 10 highest earners of 2025 The cash amount of 334 billion dollars from Berkshire Hathaway is not random. According to Business Insider, Buffett raised most of this capital by selling 134 billion dollars worth of stocks in 2024. At the beginning of 2024, Berkshire owned about 906 million shares of Apple worth $174 billion. In the following nine months, Buffett and his team cut that stake by 67%, down to 300 million shares. They also reduced Berkshire's position in Bank of America by 34%, down to 680 million shares in the second half of the year.

This strong selling in the bull market of 2024 has helped Buffett avoid the major market downturn at the beginning of 2025. "Warren Buffett has sold everything. The legend," investor Luke Belmar commented. In April 2025, the global stock market plummeted. According to Reuters, the S&P 500 dropped more than 10% in just two trading sessions—the worst decline since World War II. In this context, Buffett's decision to hold cash proved to be visionary. He emerged as the only billionaire among the top 10 in the world to make money in 2025. Buffett dismisses Bitcoin despite the cryptocurrency frenzy Even though cryptocurrencies, especially Bitcoin, have drawn attention from investors in recent years, Buffett still maintains his skeptical attitude. At the 2018 annual meeting of Berkshire, he famously described Bitcoin as "perhaps rat poison squared" and predicted it would end badly. He went even further in 2022, stating that he would not pay $25 for the entire global supply of Bitcoin. "Right now, if you told me that you own all the Bitcoin in the world and you're offering it to me for $25, I wouldn't take it because what would I do with it? I would have to sell it back to you one way or another. It wouldn't do anything at all," Buffett said at the time. His view is in stark contrast to Jefferies Financial Group, a company in which Berkshire holds 433,558 shares valued at $34 million. Jefferies sees Bitcoin as an important inflation hedge. The company owns a significant stake in the iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF (IBIT), the largest spot Bitcoin ETF in the world. SEC filings show that Jefferies holds over 1.6 million shares of IBIT, valued at over $85 million. Why does Buffett hate Bitcoin? Many investors still continue to ask why Buffett remains hostile towards Bitcoin. Matthew Sigel, Head of Digital Assets Research at VanEck, recently pointed out a 2025 investigative report that could provide answers. The report suggests that Berkshire Hathaway may oppose Bitcoin due to concerns about its intrinsic value, sustainability, and the potential threat to the company's business interests. Back in 2021, Berkshire Hathaway Energy, a subsidiary of the conglomerate, spent over $300,000 to hire eight lobbyists in Austin, Texas. Their mission: to promote a plan to build ten "peak" power plants powered by natural gas at a total cost of $8 billion, according to Texas Tribune. However, Brad Jones, the former CEO of ERCOT (, the Texas power grid operator ), prioritized two other solutions for grid stability—Bitcoin mining and weather resilience for the grid—over building new gas plants. Nevertheless, Texas Governor Dan Patrick continues to publicly oppose Bitcoin mining, claiming it destabilizes the power grid. ERCOT and some studies have countered this view. The investigation suggests that Patrick's anti-Bitcoin stance may have been influenced by lobbyists from Berkshire, particularly Allen Blakemore, a strategic advisor to the governor. These lobbyists may have convinced Patrick to support Berkshire's commercial interests. If Bitcoin mining is restricted, the demand for natural gas power plants will increase—potentially securing contracts worth over $10 billion for Berkshire Hathaway. Regardless of the reasons behind Warren Buffett's views on Bitcoin, it is clear that with $334 billion in cash available, every decision made by Berkshire Hathaway in the coming months will be closely monitored. Although Buffett has always maintained an anti-cryptocurrency stance, it is uncertain whether this will continue indefinitely.