Cryptocurrencies have made plenty of millionaires over the last decade.
Bitcoin bulls like MicroStrategy:
executive chairman Michael Saylor expected the largest crypto name to soar even higher in the long run, possibly creating many more millionaires along the way.
Now, buying Bitcoin isn't necessarily easy. You need an account with a cryptocurrency exchange, you must be comfortable sharing your bank information with that exchange so you can fund that account, and then you have to read up on the buying process. That used to be the only way to add direct Bitcoin exposure to your investing portfolio.
That changed in January 2024, when the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) allowed the launch of 11 spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs). Now you can buy or sell shares of these funds in pretty much the same way you'd buy and sell any ordinary stock, and their share prices are directly tied to the real-time Bitcoin price.
So it's easier than ever to start a Bitcoin investment. The largest and most popular spot Bitcoin ETF so far is the iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF (NASDAQ: IBIT). Can you trust this iShares trust to make you a million dollars?
Is Bitcoin a sensible investment?
First and foremost, the iShares Bitcoin Trust makes sense only if you expect the underlying Bitcoin crypto to make money. The Michael Saylors of the world are convinced that it will, but many investors disagree. Master investor Warren Buffett, for example, won't buy this ETF any time soon.
In 2018, Buffett predicted that Bitcoin "will come to a bad ending," along with the rest of the crypto market. Four years later, he still wouldn't have bought "all the Bitcoin in the world" for $25, because it doesn't produce anything of value.
I can't and won't argue with the greatest of all investing minds. Maybe he's right, and I certainly wouldn't recommend converting your entire nest egg into Bitcoin. But I do see enough value in this secure form of digital value storage to set up a small Bitcoin position for myself. Cryptocurrencies account for less than 1% of my overall investments, and Bitcoin isn't even the largest slice of those holdings.
So I stand somewhere in between the extreme positions of Warren Buffett and Michael Saylor. I'm willing to take a chance on Bitcoin investments, but not a very large one. That approach makes more sense to me than staying on the sidelines or going all-in. Your mileage may, as always, vary.
