Jim Cramer
Scott Mlyn | CNBC
CNBC’s Jim Cramer said on Thursday that he recently paid off a mortgage with the profits from his investment in bitcoin.
Cramer said he bought “a lot of bitcoin” when the world’s largest cryptocurrency cost about $ 12,000. He said he has now sold about half of his position.
“I paid off a mortgage with it yesterday,” Cramer told “Squawk on the Street.”
Bitcoin’s price hit an all-time high of more than $ 64,000 per coin on Wednesday. On Thursday, bitcoin traded around $ 63,000. The price is up more than 115% so far.
“According to the chart, I might be the only natural seller, but it was so great to pay off a mortgage. It was kind of fake money paying for real money,” Cramer said.
“I now have a house – lock, stock and barrel – because I bought this currency,” he added.
In February, Cramer discussed on CNBC his motivation for owning bitcoin, describing the cryptocurrency as “an alternative to a cash position, where you earn absolutely nothing.”
The world’s largest cryptocurrency by market value is up about 30% since Cramer’s comments on Feb. 9.
As a way of having a pastiche of things you should use your money with, I’m all for it. I think it’s almost irresponsible not to “include bitcoin in a wallet,” said the host. “Mad Money” in February.
On Thursday, Cramer seemed to suggest that he heed the investment advice he often attaches to viewers: cutting positions to take profits after seeing significant gains. “I sold half of it,” Cramer said of his bitcoin holdings on Thursday.
Cramer has been known to say that investors have not made money in a stock until a portion is sold – until then, the profits are only on paper.