Subscribe to The Ledger for expert weekly analysis on fintech’s big stories, delivered free to your inbox.
Jim Cramer, the Mad Money host who has made a living talking about stocks on CNBC, used another investment to pay for his house.
On Thursday, Cramer said he paid off his mortgage the day prior by selling half of his investment in Bitcoin. “From the chart, I may be the only natural seller, but it was so great to pay off a mortgage,” Cramer said on CNBC’s Squawk on the Street.
“It was like, kind of, phony money paying for real money,” Cramer continued. “I now own a house—lock, stock, and barrel—because I bought this currency. I think I won!”
Cramer, a sometimes controversial markets pundit, said he bought a significant amount of Bitcoin when it was priced in the $12,000 range. Yesterday, at its peak, Bitcoin was selling for $64,829.
Cramer has been a vocal booster of Bitcoin for a while now. He has touted it on air, saying it would be “almost irresponsible” not to include it in a portfolio.
Last month he said he had made more on Bitcoin than he has on gold.
Bitcoin surged yesterday in the run-up to the direct listing of Coinbase on the Nasdaq marketplace. It dropped precipitously once trading in the cryptocurrency exchange began, however, and, by late morning Thursday, was $2,000 off its highs.
Cramer didn’t go into exactly how much he had made off his sale, but in other interviews, he has said he invested $500,000 in Bitcoin, after becoming frustrated with gold. That could put his profits from yesterday’s sale at over $1 million.
More must-read finance coverage from Coins2Day:
- The mathematical improbability of Coinbase justifying a $100 billion valuation
- Credit Suisse recovers some assets linked to Greensill, but fate of $4.6 billion remains uncertain
- The price of lumber is up 193%—and about to spike even higher
- Home prices are up 16% over the past year. Is it time to sell or buy?
- Looming student loan forgiveness? A provision in the March stimulus bill could set the stage for debt cancellation
